In what feels as though will be the first of many announcements, Regal Cinemas has announced it is shuttering all of its locations until further notice.
As local governments around the United States rush to enact new guidelines to stem the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, Regal Cinemas is moving up what seemed inevitable. As of Tuesday, March 17, the company will close all of its locations. Regal is the second-largest chain in the U.S. with 7,155 screens spread across 542 theaters in 42 states.
“Any time, at any Regal, it’s our goal to provide a safe and healthy environment for our employees and guests,” Cineworld CEO Mooky Greidinger told Deadline. “At this time, we have made the difficult decision to close our theatres. We value our movie-loving customers and have no doubt we will be serving them again as soon as possible with a full slate of Hollywood blockbusters. The Cineworld Group and Regal Theatres are strong, standing on solid ground and our continued goal is to be The Best Place to Watch a Movie!”
This news comes as box office results of this past weekend were the lowest in over 20 years. With nearly all of the films scheduled to be released in April having been pushed back, theaters will quickly be running out of content to show to customers.
With talks of closures extending well past the end of March, we should expect to see even more films moving further back on the schedule.
