UPDATED: ALMOST a year to the day after announcing 70 new jobs in Warrington at its new 13 screen cinema, Cineworld has confirmed it will be temporarily closing its UK cinemas this Thursday.
An announcement to the City today, Monday said: “Cineworld confirms that it will be temporarily suspending operations at all of its 536 Regal theatres in the US and its 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse theatres in the UK from Thursday 8 October 2020.
“As major US markets, mainly New York, remained closed and without guidance on reopening timing, studios have been reluctant to release their pipeline of new films.
“In turn, without these new releases, Cineworld cannot provide customers in both the US and the UK – the company’s primary markets – with the breadth of strong commercial films necessary for them to consider coming back to theatres against the backdrop of COVID-19.”
The announcement prompted a horror show for the company’s shares, which plunged by 57% as investors digested the implications.
It leaves staff at the mercy of a tough jobs market at a time when the government’s furlough scheme – tapped into by Cineworld during the lockdown that began in March – is coming to an end at the end of October.
The company is writing to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden to say the industry is now “unviable”, saying it has been hit by delays in the release of big-budget films, putting 5,500 jobs at risk.
The news comes as the premiere of James Bond film No Time To Die, which has already been postponed twice, is now not due for release until April 2021.
It is hoped that the Cineworld cinemas will be able to reopen next year, with staff being asked to accept redundancy in the hope of rejoining the company when theatres open again.
Cineworld’s sites in America, where it operates 546 theatres, could also be forced to close.
In September the firm reported a $1.6bn (£1.3bn) loss for the six months to June as its cinemas had to close because of coronavirus lockdowns.
It warned at the time that it might need to raise more money in the event of further restrictions – or film delays – due to Covid-19.
We can confirm we are considering the temporary closure of our U.K. and US cinemas, but a final decision has not yet been reached. Once a decision has been made we will update all staff and customers as soon as we can.
— Cineworld Cinemas (@cineworld) October 4, 2020
