Cineworld brings down curtain on U.S., UK theatres; 45,000 jobs hit

[snoop1130]

Cineworld brings down curtain on U.S., UK theatres; 45,000 jobs hit

By Muvija M and Yadarisa Shabong

 

FILE PHOTO: People walk past a Cineworld in Leicester's Square, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in London, Britain, October 4, 2020. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/File photo

 

(Reuters) - Cineworld will close all of its UK and U.S. movie theatres this week, leaving as many as 45,000 workers unemployed for the foreseeable future as it strives to survive a coronavirus collapse in film-making and cinema-going.

 

The world's second-biggest cinema chain said the reluctance of studios to push ahead with major releases such as the new James Bond film had left it no choice but to close all 536 Regal theatres in the U.S. and its 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse theatres in the UK from Oct. 8.

 

Confirming weekend reports on the closures by Reuters and UK media, the company's statement on Monday spelt out the scale of the job losses, which take in thousands of ancillary staff including cleaners and security as well as its own employees. It gave no indication of when cinemas might reopen.

 

Shares in the company, which have plummeted more than 80% this year, dropped another 60% to an all-time low within ten minutes of the opening bell on Monday as it said it was looking at all ways of raising additional funds.

 

The entertainment industry has been among the heaviest hit by social distancing and other restrictions, with Walt Disney last week announcing plans to lay off roughly 28,000 employees, mostly at its U.S. theme parks.

 

Cineworld began reopening in July after virus-related restrictions started to ease, but the further postponement of the James Bond film "No Time To Die" and others including Marvel's "Black Widow" have left the months ahead looking bleak.

 

"Without these new releases, Cineworld cannot provide customers in both the U.S. and the UK... with the breadth of strong commercial films necessary for them to consider coming back to theatres," it said.

 

Studios have released some of this year's major planned blockbusters on Netflix or the Disney Plus streaming platform, while cancelling others until next year.

 

Vue cinemas boss Tim Richards told BBC Radio: "Our problem right now is we have no movies, and this was a big blow for us."

 

"We are likely going to make it through. I'm concerned about the independents and the small regional operators right now that are going to really struggle, and when they close, they may not reopen."

 

Britain has slid into a fresh round of lockdowns and tightened social restrictions in the past month. Other major UK operators, including Vue cinemas and Odeon, did not immediately respond to Reuters' questions on their response to the crisis.

 

"Although the delay of the latest 007 blockbuster prompted the decision, Bond isn't the villain in this piece," Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter said.

 

"The spread of COVID-19 around the world has been a horror movie for the industry and the fresh wave of infections is the latest installment in what's been a devastating story for cinema chains."

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-10-05

 

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[johng]

12 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Cineworld will close all of its UK and U.S. movie theatres this week, leaving as many as 45,000 workers unemployed for the foreseeable future as it strives to survive a coronavirus collapse in film-making and cinema-going.

What a sad sad state of affairs the WuFlu lock downs and Covidiocy claims even more jobs decimates economies destroys peoples businesses and livelihoods.

 

19 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Vue cinemas boss Tim Richards told BBC Radio: "Our problem right now is we have no movies, and this was a big blow for us."

Maybe they could try  re showing some classic hot hits from the past  at attractive (cheap) prices.

[candide]

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

The world's second-biggest cinema chain said the reluctance of studios to push ahead with major releases such as the new James Bond film had left it no choice but to close all 536 Regal theatres in the U.S. and its 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse theatres in the UK from Oct. 8.

Interesting to see how the movie industry is self destroying. By not releasing new films they cause their traditional distribution channels to bankrupt. When they eventually release them, there will be nearly no movie theaters any more, and they will be further squeezed by Netflix and Amazon.

[Kelsall]

This has been coming since before COVID.  Hollywood did it to itself with its liberal "message" movies.

 

They forgot the old saying, "If you want to send a message, use Western Union."

[from the home of CC]

it's your runaway infection rates scaring people out of your venues, no different than bars and indoor dining that help drive transmissibility to uncountable cases - clean up your acts and perhaps venues may reopen prior to vax availability. Locales worldwide are able to drive down cases to allow track and trace to finally work and then stupidly blow it all up trashing the personal sacrifices that people made. It's a me, me, me world and this is the price..

[Jack Mountain]

Cinema, so expensive and so 20th century ...

[Bender Rodriguez]

maybe a giant like amazon can buy them for cents on the dollar

[Scott Tracy]

I understand the need to recoup the cost of a movie, but not having cinemas to show it in is very short sighted of the industry.

 

The James Bond movie release has been deferred so an international audience can view it. Problem iw, there will be no where to view it, as cinemas were banking on people going to see the Bond movie.

 

The official James Bond Twitter account wrote: “MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, today announced the release of ‘NO TIME TO DIE,’ the 25th film in the James Bond series, will be delayed until 2 April 2021 in order to be seen by a worldwide theatrical audience.”

“We understand the delay will be disappointing to our fans but we now look forward to sharing ‘NO TIME TO DIE’ next year.”

 

No where to watch it soon....

[dunroaming]

20 hours ago, johng said:

What a sad sad state of affairs the WuFlu lock downs and Covidiocy claims even more jobs decimates economies destroys peoples businesses and livelihoods.

 

Maybe they could try  re showing some classic hot hits from the past  at attractive (cheap) prices.

Cinemas have been suffering long before the pandemic, being eroded by the likes of Amazon Prime and Netflix.  Some movies thrive on being seen on a big screen and James Bond is one of them.   It is all very well suggesting that cinemas show some of the old classics but most are available to download.  Not the same as the big screen but not an attractive enough proposition to get people out of the house.

 

For Cineworld to close (temporarily) all their cinemas, it doesn't really help the problem unless they are having talks with the film distributors and agreeing a re-opening to coincide with the films new release date. We have an Everyman Cinema near to us and that is great with smaller viewing screens.  Sofas replace normal cinema seating and you can order hot food and drink to have as you watch the movie. It works really well but obviously challenging to do social distancing.  I hope they survive