“What Regal announced is obviously terrible but I don’t think the business is gone by any stretch of the imagination,” he said. “Its role might be different. Its scale and scope might be different but I don’t believe the theater business as an industry is gone.”
On Sept. 16, Cineworld’s chief executive, Mooky Greidinger, sent a letter to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York imploring him to treat movie theaters as he has other indoor venues. He pointed to the fact that there has been no evidence of transmission of the virus in cinemas, despite being open around the world for the past few months.
Mr. Cuomo has theaters categorized alongside concert venues and amusement parks — an infuriating distinction to the movie theaters, which claim that their individualized filtration systems, assigned seating and mask protocols make the moviegoing experience much safer than attending either a concert or a theme park.
“We’re moving heaven and earth trying to stop a second wave and people need to acknowledge that we’re still in a pandemic and start to act like it,” said Richard Azzopardi, a senior adviser to Mr. Cuomo. “We understand some people are unhappy but you know what? Better unhappy than sick or worse.”
Cineworld’s announcement sent its stock spiraling. It fell as much as 60 percent when the stock market opened in London on Monday before ending the day down 25 percent.
In September, Cineworld reported a pretax loss of $1.6 billion for the first half of 2020. In total, the company operates 780 cinemas and is leaving about 100 locations in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania open. Last year, 90 percent of the company’s revenue was generated in the United States and Britain.
Stiles Bailey, who worked selling concessions and taking tickets at a Regal theater in Brunswick, Maine, got an email early Monday announcing that the company’s theaters were closing down.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/05/business/media/regal-theater-shutdown.html
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