British network Cineworld, the second largest cinema chain in the world, announced on Wednesday (7/9) that it was filing for bankruptcy in the United States.
“Cineworld and some of its affiliates have filed for bankruptcy protection (Chapter 11) in the federal bankruptcy court for the Southern District of Texas,” the group said in a statement.
The goal is to restructure its debt and try to find new liquidity in the midst of the cinema crisis. With the request, Cineworld buys time to, “with the expected support of its secured creditors, seek to implement operations to strengthen its accounts,” according to the statement.
Cineworld has more than $ 5 billion in debt and faces a lawsuit of around $ 1 billion over a complicated merger with Canadian cinema chain Cineplex.
The company was one of the hardest hit by the pandemic. Following government clearance to reopen, after quarantines ended, Cineworld decided to close 128 of its cinemas in the UK and Ireland due to a lack of theatrical releases, impacting 5,500 jobs in the region.
Even as people return to theaters as Covid-19 fears subside, ticket sales are still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels. After the North American summer, when blockbusters conveyed an impression of normality, major studios stopped releasing commercially captivating titles and cinemas saw audiences shrink dramatically. In stark contrast, streaming has started to grow again, indicating a seemingly irreversible tendency to change habits.
The next big theatrical release is “Black Adam”, right at the end of October.
Source: Terra
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
