Regal Cinemas will close 39 cinemas starting next month, including the Sherman Oaks Galleria location it had acquired from the defunct Arclight Cinemas, as its parent company Cineworld continues bankruptcy proceedings.
According to new bankruptcy filings obtained by TheWrap, the cinema chain will begin rejecting leases for the closing locations on February 15. In the filings, Cineworld cited rising rent costs fueled by deferred payments from the COVID-19 pandemic as the central reason for the closures, claiming that the average monthly rent per theater increased 30% from 2019 to 2022.
“In the lead up to these chapter 11 cases, the Debtors undertook an extensive analysis of their U.S. lease portfolio as part of formulating a revised, go-forward business plan. The objective of that analysis has been, and continues to be, identifying unprofitable, underperforming, or otherwise undesirable theater locations in the United States,” the new filing read. ““In total, the Debtors estimate that rejecting the Leases will save their estates approximately $22 million annually.”
At the time of filing bankruptcy, Cineworld had a $4.8 billion debt, taking a $3 billion loss in 2020 as theaters worldwide were shuttered by the pandemic. The box office has improved over the past year with a domestic total of $7.38 billion, up from the $4.4 billion grossed in 2021. But that total is still roughly $4 billion less than the $11.3 billion grossed in North America in 2019.
The full list of closed theaters, which was first published by Insider, includes seven multiplexes in California and six in New York. This is on top of the 12 locations that were already closed this past fall following the bankruptcy announcement, which included multiplexes in Anaheim, Portland, Cleveland and Las Vegas.
The Sherman Oaks Galleria location is the only location closing in Los Angeles County, with Regal still operating cinemas at L.A. Live in downtown, North Hollywood, Simi Valley, and Palos Verdes, among others. At the time of bankruptcy, Regal operated approxmiately 500 cinemas nationwide.
Regal had taken over as tenant of the Sherman Oaks Galleria cinema in June 2021 after its previous tenant, Arclight Cinemas, announced that it would not reopen following the pandemic. Regal’s termination of the lease now leaves the San Fernando Valley mall without an anchor business. The space may be acquired by another theater chain — possibly AMC, which has been aggressive in buying up locations despite its own substantial debt load — or it may be repurposed into a new space.
Read the full list of closing locations below:
- Tikahtnu Stadium 16 Imax and RPX (Anchorage, AK)
- Metro Point (Costa Mesa, CA)
- Berkeley 7 (Berkeley, CA)
- Parkway Plaza Stadium 18 and Imax (El Cajon, CA)
- Escondido Stadium 16 and Imax (Escondido, CA)
- Hemet Cinema 12 (Hemet, CA)
- Sherman Oaks Galleria 16 (Los Angeles, CA)
- Yorda Linda and Imax (Yorba Linda, CA)
- Meadows Stadium 12 (Littleton, CO)
- SouthGlenn Stadium 14 (Centennial, CO)
- Shadowood 16 (Boba Raton, FL)
- South Beach Stadium 18 and Imax (Miami, FL)
- Keauhou Stadium 7 (Kailua-Kona, HI)
- Bolingbrook Stadium 12 (Bolingbrook, IL)
- Round Lake Beach Stadium 18 (Round Lake Beach, IL)
- Fenway Stadium 13 and RPX (Boston, MA)
- Bowie Stadium 14 (Bowie, MD)
- Rockville Center Stadium 13 (Rockville, MD)
- Brunswick 10 (Brunswick, ME)
- Beaver Creek Stadium 12 (Apex, NC)
- Omaha Stadium 16 (Omaha, NE)
- Concord 10 (Concord, NH)
- Hamilton Commons Stadium 14 (Landing, NJ)
- Pohatcong Stadium 12 (Phillipsburg, NJ)
- Santa Fe Stadium 14 (Santa Fe, NM)
- Village Square Stadium 18 (Las Vegas, NV)
- 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)
- Montrose Movies Stadium 12 (Akron, OH)
- Barn Plaza Stadium 14 (Doylestown, PA)
- Oaks Stadium 24 (Oaks, PA)
- Greenbrier Stadium 13 (Chesapeake, VA)
- Stonefield Stadium 14 and Imax (Charlottesville, VA)
- Meridian 16 (Seattle, WA)
- Gallery Place Stadium 14 (Washington, DC)