(TNS) – Regal Cinemas is closing more movie theaters after its parent company, Cineworld, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Business Insider reports the nation’s second-largest movie theater chain, behind AMC, is closing 39 theaters in the U.S. starting Feb. 15, including eight locations in New York state. Four are in Upstate New York, including Greece Ridge Stadium 12 in Rochester, Transit Center Stadium 18 and IMAX in Williamsville, Elmwood Center 16 in Buffalo, and Ithaca Mall Stadium 14 in Ithaca,
That will leave just 33 Regal theaters open in New York, including at Destiny USA mall in Syracuse. Regal permanently closed its other Syracuse-area locations at Shoppingtown Mall and Great Northern Mall in 2020.
The new closings are on top of a dozen other movie theaters that closed in recent months, including four in California.
Cineworld Group LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. in September due to nearly $5 billion in debt and business struggles caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and a shift by Hollywood studios to streaming and VOD releases. Successes such as “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” have been the exception in recent years; the North American box office hit $7.4 billion in 2022, down from more than $11 billion in 2019 and 2018.
Business Insider reports Cineworld said its plans to close 39 locations this year would help it save $22 million, according to a new bankruptcy filing in court Tuesday. Cineworld says it’s still working to preserve its other locations; as of last fall, the company had more than 500 locations and 28,000 employees.
“The debtors are hopeful that these negotiations will lead to lease concessions and modifications that will obviate the need for rejection and enable additional theater sites to remain open,” Cineworld said in the filing.
Here are the eight Regal Cinemas locations closing in New York state:
Elmwood Center 16 (Buffalo, NY)
Ithaca Mall Stadium 14 (Ithaca, NY)
Cortlandt Town Center (Mohegan Lake, NY)
Union Square Stadium 14 (New York, NY)
Greece Ridge Stadium 12 (Rochester, NY)
Transit Center Stadium 18 and Imax (Williamsville, NY)
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