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Originally Posted by Dilligas
Cineworld Group PLC, the world's second biggest theater chain and the owner of Regal Cinemas, is preparing to file for bankruptcy after struggling to rebuild its audience. The British entertainment conglomerate, which reopened theaters last year, said attendance has lagged due to a lack of blockbuster films and will likely persist through November, potentially complicating efforts to cut its debt.
Cineworld operates 751 sites in 10 countries, including more than 500 Regal Cinemas theaters in the US. It saw about 95 million moviegoers in 2021, compared to the 275 million in 2019. Earlier this year, the company said it was looking for new sources of liquidity, as it faces payment obligations to former Regal shareholders and a multimillion-dollar dispute over its failed acquisition of Canada's Cineplex. Cineworld had net debt of $8.9B at the end of 2021 and revenues of $1.8B.
Total box office ticket sales in the US have been down roughly 30%, compared to prepandemic levels (see comparison), partly due to some production companies choosing to directly release to streaming platforms.
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Thirty years ago I used to see almost every film that showed up at the cineplex. In the five years before Covid I saw maybe one movie a year at a theater and resented the outrageous prices. I’ve gone to no theaters since Covid hit and don’t plan to return. Now I watch movies in bed on a screen six feet wide, and a month of Netflix costs about as much as one movie for two.
When I was in college there were half a dozen old theaters in town (Denver) that showed great movies of the past, two for a dollar, changing films daily. For example, a week of Bogart movies, or Chaplin movies, or Ingmar Bergman movies, or Screwball comedies, or Cary Grant movies, or John Ford movies, or Truffaut movies. It was a great way to gain an appreciation of movie history. But those days are gone.