Things continue to look bleak for the movie theater industry as the failure of Tenet at the box office continues to have a ripple effect on potential blockbusters down the line. For instance, movie theater chain owner Cineworld has announced the possibility of closing all their cinemas in the United States.
Variety reports that Cineworld announced on its Twitter account that while they have not reached a final decision, they are considering the “temporary closure” of their cinemas in the United States.
The announcement comes after the less-than-stellar performance of Tenet prompted the move of James Bond film No Time to Die to April of next year. Citing a source, Variety says Regal theaters, which are owned by Cineworld, may start closing as soon as next week.
The Hollywood Reporter notes that Cineworld closing its cinemas would be huge news sure to affect other cinema chains. Cineworld is second only to AMC Theatres in the United States when it comes to size. It is also considered the second-largest cinema circuit worldwide.
Other members of the industry are scared that other cinema chains may follow suit. AMC and Cinemark, both of which are currently in the process of reopening their venues in the United States, have not yet made their own announcements.
Should Cineworld move forward with closing its venues in the United States, this would be a turnaround from their August announcement, when they said they would reopen their Regal cinemas for Tenet.
At the time, Cineworld CEO Mooky Greidinger called the decision to reopen a “celebration for...our team and our industry.” The Regal reopenings involved new health and safety measures, such as social distancing and lowered theater capacity.
Movie schedules were also adjusted so that long lines could be avoided. Cleanliness and sanitation procedures were also put in place. All of these was to deal with the global coronavirus pandemic still ongoing in the United States.
Before the announcement for Tenet, Cineworld was already implementing a staggered reopening elsewhere in the world. They reopened in Slovakia and the Czech Republic on June 26; Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Poland on July 3; and Israel on July 9.
With the global coronavirus pandemic still ongoing and discouraging people from heading to the cinemas, there may be more cinema closures in store for the United States and beyond as Hollywood continues to delay the release of its blockbusters.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention update for Oct. 4 says that there are now 7,359,952 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States. The number of COVID-19 deaths in the country is now at 208,821.
According to the Oct. 4 update from the World Health Organization, there are now 34,804,348 confirmed COVID-19 cases around the world. There are now 1,030,738 people around the world that have died from COVID-19.