The last major theater chain holdout has scheduled its reopening date, as Cineworld’s Regal Cinemas has announced (via THR) that select theaters will open its doors on April 2, just in time for Warner Bros.’ “Godzilla vs. Kong.” And with that, not only do we see the next major hurdle for the theatrical release business finished, but also, WB has officially unveiled its plans for theatrical exclusivity in 2022.

Continue reading Regal Cinemas To Reopen In April After Warner Bros. Strikes Deal For Theatrical Exclusivity In 2022 at The Playlist.

A metaphorical bomb was dropped yesterday in the world of the film industry. Though the bomb was not a real explosive, there has already been significant real-world damage to theater chains such as AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas, and more, as WarnerMedia announced plans to release its entire 2021 Warner Bros. film slate simultaneously in theaters and HBO Max. After the announcement, stock prices tumbled for the major theater chains as people started to really see the writing on the wall—movie theaters are never going to be the same again.

Continue reading AMC & Regal Cinemas Respond To WarnerMedia’s HBO Max Release Strategy at The Playlist.

Regal Cinemas, in the US at least, is closed down completely, right now. That’s hundreds of locations around the country with their doors locked and no movies playing on its various massive screens. To the layperson, having no customers seems worse than having some customers, right? Well, apparently not, as the company believes that it saves more money with no business than just having slow ticket sales and higher operational costs.

Continue reading Cineworld CEO Confirms Regal Will Be Shut Down Until 2021 As Company Secures Some Additional Funding at The Playlist.

Remember last month when Cineworld, the parent company behind Regal Cinemas, announced that it would be closing the bulk of its theaters in the US and the UK? At the time, the reason was the fact that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo wasn’t opening theaters in the state and it was negatively affecting the entire industry. Well, Cuomo did allow for New York theaters to reopen (outside of NYC, at least), and Regal opened the doors to a handful of cinemas in the state.

Continue reading Regal Shuts Down Remaining Theaters In The US But IMAX CEO Claims COVID-19 Vaccine Is A “Game Changer” at The Playlist.

Just last week, after the surprise shutdown of Cineworld (and thus, Regal Cinemas locations) in the US and UK, AMC Theatres came out and told everyone that things should be just fine and the world’s largest cinema chain had no plans to shut down its theaters. Well, it appears that the CEO might have been speaking a bit too optimistically, as new statements from AMC point to a company on the verge of collapse.

Continue reading AMC Theatres Warns Cash Resources Will Be “Largely Depleted” By The End Of 2020 If Box Office Doesn’t Rebound at The Playlist.

With yesterday’s confirmation from Cineworld, the parent company of Regal Cinemas, that the company would be closing all of its US and UK movie theaters “until further notice,” film fans (and box office analysts) feared the worst. When would AMC follow suit? And would this be the final nail in the coffin of theater exhibition in 2020 (and possibly forever)? Well, AMC isn’t ready to close its doors.

Continue reading AMC Will Stay Open Despite Regal Closings & Credits “Groundbreaking” Deal With Universal As The Reason at The Playlist.

As the business week begins today, we’re already seeing massive financial implications from the news of “No Time to Die” being delayed and Cineworld shutting down its US and UK cinemas. And according to a new interview with THR, financial analyst Eric Wold believes that the next two months are going to be a “virtual ghost town” for theatrical releases and that studios need to be willing to take financial risks to ensure that cinemas will be viable when states fully reopen sometime in the future.

Continue reading Analyst Says Studios Have To Be “Willing To Take A Hit” For Theaters To Survive at The Playlist.

The fallout of the “No Time to Die” delay has had an absolutely massive effect on the future of the theatrical business. Not only is it likely that other films will move out of 2020 and take their chances in 2021, but Cineworld (parent company of Regal Cinemas and the second-largest theater chain in the world) has also decided to close its doors beginning this week due to the lack of business.

Continue reading Cineworld CEO Blames NY Governor’s “Inflexibility” For Causing Company To Shut Down U.S. & U.K. Theaters Again at The Playlist.

Cinemas around the world are in trouble. I know, I know, this is shocking, right? Well, the truth is that with each passing quarter, the financial disclosures from the large cinema chains are getting more and more grim. We have AMC talking about how the company needs to finish 2020 strong or face serious financial consequences (aka going out of business). And now, with Cineworld (parent company of Regal Cinemas and the #2 theater chain in the world), we’re beginning to see that the losses are massive, but there may just be hope for the future.

Continue reading Regal Cinemas’ Parent Company Reports Losses Of $1.6B & Warns Of “No Certainty” Ahead at The Playlist.

Continue reading Christopher Nolan Shows His Support For Theaters By Going To A Regal Cinema & Enjoying Some Movies at The Playlist.

For most of my adult life, the cinema has been my place of worship. At least once a week, armed with a small popcorn and large Coca-Cola, I’d settle into the back row, dead center, and in the dark, I’d step into worlds, stories, characters, and moments that nourished parts of my soul that even years and years of cinematic devotion later, I’d be hard-pressed to accurately articulate. Even the more tangible aspects of this ritual — the immersive screen, the surround sound, the collective laughter and tears, the feeling of togetherness with a room full of strangers — are so powerful they are beyond mere words. However, the COVID-19 pandemic put a sudden and jarring end to this routine and drew the entire industry to a standstill.

Continue reading Movies May Be Back, But Can The Precarious Theatrical Business Sustain Itself In The Pandemic Age? at The Playlist.

“Our main message now to our customers is: Come back to the cinemas that you love, because they are safe and they are waiting for you.” So said Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Cineworld, during a virtual press conference last week, but he wasn’t just speaking for Cineworld, which owns Regal Theaters and is the second-largest cinema chain on the globe (behind AMC). The event was a webinar sponsored by the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO), with Greidinger joined by representatives from AMC, Marcus Theatres, Cinemark, and IMAX to announce the implementation of “CinemaSafe,” a coordinated set of nationwide health and safety protocols, to be followed by all participating theaters and chains (“over 340 companies representing over 32,000 screens nationwide,” according to the CinemaSafe website).

Continue reading Just How Safe Are NATO’s “CinemaSafe” Health & Safety Protocols? We Asked Health Experts To Review The Risks at The Playlist.

Last weekend, AMC, Regal, and many other cinemas reopened for the first time in five months, since they were all shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And while the box office numbers weren’t what you would call “massive,” the Russell Crowe film, “Unhinged,” did bring in around $4 million and showed that there are people that are ready to go back to the cinema.

Continue reading Cineworld CEO Is “Encouraged” By The Weekend’s Box Office & Says People Are “Eager” To Return To Cinemas at The Playlist.

Following in the wake of similar announcements by AMC Theatres now that more concrete cinema release dates for new films have been decided (mainly “Tenet”), Regal Cinemas, has announced that it will begin to reopen its U.S. locations starting from August 21.

Cineworld, the U.K. cinema chain that recently acquired Regal, made the announcement on Monday afternoon following Warner Bros.

Continue reading Regal Cinemas To Re-Open U.S. Movie Theaters On August 21 at The Playlist.

Did you think there wouldn’t be more news about “Tenet” since Warner Bros. took it off its release schedule? Think again. The latest news in the long and increasingly convoluted drama of whether Christopher Nolan‘s latest blockbuster will be released in cinemas next year fuels speculation. The website for Regal Cinemas shows “Tenet” as having a September 4 release date.

READ MORE: ‘Tenet’ Might Still Open Up In Europe This Summer

Last we’d heard, Warner Bros.

Continue reading Regal Website Shows ‘Tenet’ For September 4 Release Date at The Playlist.

When movie theaters reopen and everyone can rush back to see Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” the question remains whether or not it’s actually safe to do so? Sure, the large cinema chains have released statements about the precautions they’re taking to ensure the safety of the customers, but there’s no denying that it seems a bit crazy to sit in an enclosed space with a bunch of other people for more than two hours while some wear masks and others don’t (taking them off to eat popcorn and drink sodas).

Continue reading New Study Deems Going To A Cinema As “High Risk” During The Pandemic & Worse Than Flying On A Plane at The Playlist.

As we’ve written about dozens of times already, cinemas in the US are facing an existential crisis right now and the COVID-19 pandemic is only adding to this issue. Even without a global pandemic forcing theaters in the US to close for months, the theatrical exhibition business has suffered over the past several years as people just find other things to do other than visit cinemas. That is, unless there’s a new superhero film. Now, with states allowing for businesses to reopen across the country, movie theaters are finally able to start making money again.

Continue reading AMC, Regal & Other Cinemas Sue New Jersey To Reopen Sooner Than Planned at The Playlist.

As we said yesterday, it was only a matter of time before AMC Theatres’ decision to delay the chain’s reopening until the end of July would impact the previously-announced dates for Regal Cinemas and Cinemark. And on cue, both of the other chains have revealed that their plans for reopening would also be delayed as studios try to figure out the best time to release films during a pandemic.

Continue reading Regal & Cinemark Follow AMC’s Lead, Delaying Reopening Until Late-July at The Playlist.

Well, that certainly didn’t
take long. AMC Theatres and most of the theatrical chains were playing a
disingenuous game of “hey,
don’t look at me, we just play movies, talk to your Governors” bullshit with
the whole COVID-19, theatrical re-openings and face-masks conversation (if a
business can refuse you with “no shoes, no shirt” policy, they sure as hell can
do a similar mask one during a pandemic if they choose). But dominoes started to
fall quickly today.

Continue reading Facing Backlash, Regal Cinemas Now Require Face Masks When Theatres Reopen at The Playlist.

Recently, we saw AMC Theatres, the largest cinema chain in the world, follow the lead of Regal Cinemas and Cinemark with announcing that facemasks will not be required by customers when the theaters reopen in July. This comes after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world’s cinemas to shut down for months. But not all theater chains are following suit, as Alamo Drafthouse announces its own mask requirement.

Continue reading Alamo Drafthouse Announces Facemask Requirement After AMC Statement: “This Is Not Political” at The Playlist.

Despite COVID-19 being a very real threat in many major cities and regions of the US and the rest of the world, cinemas are planning to reopen shortly, as in a couple of weeks. We’ve already heard from AMC about the plan to reopen almost all of the company’s locations by July and now, Regal Cinemas is following suit, as the chain has announced a reopening date of July 10 and a brand-spanking-new list of regulations customers and employees will have to follow.

Continue reading Regal Cinemas Announces Safety Guidelines For Reopening On July 10 at The Playlist.

In the grand scheme of reopening cinemas in the US, we all know that studios are only looking at a few areas as real barometers for when they can move forward with their release schedule. Those areas include New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Well, according to new protocols released by California, approved by Governor Gavin Newsom, it appears that the cinemas in that state can open as soon as this week.

READ MORE: Theater Owners Expect 90% Of World’s Cinemas To Be Open By ‘Tenet’ Release Date

Deadline is reporting that California’s latest protocols say that theaters can begin reopening under strict guidelines on June 12, if they so choose.

Continue reading California To Allow Cinemas To Reopen As Early As Friday With Limited Capacity & Other Guidelines at The Playlist.

So far, we’ve heard from AMC Theatres and Cinemark about their plans to reopen cinemas in North America by July to welcome aboard Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” the film industry’s hope to save the summer movie season. However, we still didn’t know what Regal Cinemas had planned. Well, unsurprisingly, it appears that Cineworld, the parent company to Regal, is following the lead of its competition.

Continue reading Regal’s Parent Company Says All Its Cinemas Will Reopen In July…If ‘Tenet’ Arrives at The Playlist.

As states move towards reopening businesses, moviegoers find themselves wondering which 2020 theatrical releases might be salvaged. Last week, Variety reported that movie theaters were holding out hope for “Tenet,” Christopher Nolan’s science-fiction blockbuster currently slated for a July 17 release. According to the article, Nolan himself has become a behind-the-scenes champion for “Tenet” as the first major post-COVID-19 release, with Warner Bros. executives torn on whether to market or delay the film.

Continue reading “Feeling Safe” Isn’t Enough: Reopening Cinemas Should Be Decided By Medical Professionals, Not Marketers at The Playlist.

We are beginning to see the “reopening” of America take place. As the White House turns over regulation enforcement and implementation to the various states, we’re seeing some, such as Texas and Georgia, begin to allow for non-essential businesses (like movie theaters) to reopen their doors. But in a new survey (via THR), it doesn’t seem like the general public is that quick to rush back to the big screen experience.

READ MORE: Theater Owners Are Excited About ‘Tenet’ & Expect “Tremendous Word-Of-Mouth” After The July Release

The survey was conducted over the period of April 22 to April 26 and found that only 22% of those Americans surveyed would visit a movie theater within the first month if a state chooses to reopen non-essential businesses early.

Continue reading Many Americans Won’t Return To Cinemas Unless Strict Social Distancing & Sanitation Guidelines Are Enforced, Says New Survey at The Playlist.