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Regal Theaters Confirmed To Close Again Indefinitely Starting This Week
Regal Cinemas will re-close all theaters indefinitely starting Thursday, October 8. Movie theater chains have struggled since their sudden closures back in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. The shutdown saw many films delayed until late 2020 or early 2021, with studios hoping theater doors would reopen by the summer. Though many theaters were back in business by August in time for the highly-anticipated release of Christopher Nolan's Tenet, the film failed to bring audiences back to theaters, only bringing in $10 million its opening weekend.
Not wanting their films to similarly underperform, studios have continued to push back their release dates. It was announced over the weekend that the release of the latest James Bond film, No Time to Die, has been further delayed until April 2021. Daniel Craig's fifth and final film as Bond was initially set to hit theaters back in April but was pushed to November 2020 with hopes that the virus would subside by then. The decision to delay the film again appeared to be the final straw, as it was followed by the news that Regal Cinemas were reportedly planning to re-close its theaters as soon as this week.
Regal announced on Twitter Monday that the chain will suspend operations of its theaters as of Thursday, October 8, and will remain closed until further notice. The second-largest cinema chain in the U.S. stated that the decision is "in response to an increasingly challenging landscape and sustained key market closures."
Regal's decision to close its doors this week may not come as a surprise, considering Tenet's overall underwhelming performance and the general lack of movie releases in the few months theaters have been open. Theaters were counting on the latest 007 installment to be the major fall movie that would keep them in business, but being postponed for another five months puts them in jeopardy. Additionally, the recent news of Denis Villeneuve's Dune reboot also being delayed until 2021 only further puts theaters at risk. Though other theater chains have not yet announced a decision regarding whether they will re-close, it's likely they will make the same move at some point.
While there are still other movies set to release in late 2020, No Time to Die's absence will definitely hurt theaters. It's also highly likely that those movies will follow suit, including Wonder Woman 1984, another major film that's been repeatedly delayed. While it's possible that Regal could still reopen by the end of 2020, moviegoers should expect the possibility of more movie delays in the near future.
