A view of the Regal Loews Cinemas in New York’s Times Square.
Noam Galai | Getty Images
As the blockages ease, Regal Cinemas will reopen in the US after six months of closure.
The cinema chain owned by Cineworld will reopen approximately 500 locations on April 2 at a limited capacity, based on local guidelines. In most cases, attendance is limited to 25% to 50%.
Regal Cinemas will present Warner Bros. ‘the movie “Godzilla vs. Kong” during the opening of its first weekend. “Mortal Kombat” will star in its cinemas starting April 16.
Warner Bros. has made the decision to simultaneously release all of its 2021 movies in theaters and on its HBO Max streaming service. This meant that he had to renegotiate transactions with each film company to ensure that his films would be shown on the big screen.
Cineworld is the latest theater chain to accept these terms and enter into a long-term agreement with the studio to ensure that after 2021 there will be a longer period between the release of a film in cinemas and its availability in the domestic market. .
Warner Bros. and Cineworld have signed a multi-year agreement beginning in 2022 and stipulating that Warner Bros. ‘The functions will have to be played in cinemas for 45 days before switching to streaming or video-on-demand platforms.
In the UK, the transaction is 31 days and can be extended to 45 for films that open with a large enough box office ticket.
Regal Cinemas is the second largest theater chain in the US, just behind AMC Theaters. The company had chosen to close its cinemas six months ago.
At the time, Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Cineworld, told CNBC that closing locations in the United States and the United Kingdom was a way to stop the “bleeding.” He said his business lost less money by not operating.
With local restrictions relaxing in places like California and New York, it seems that Regal is more confident that his theaters will be able to thrive and become profitable again.
The two states together account for 21.5 percent of total U.S. ticket revenue each year, according to Comscore data.
Cinemas in New York were given permission to reopen at limited capacity in the first week of March, and cinemas in Los Angeles were allowed to reopen two weeks ago.
New York City accounts for almost 24% of the total New York State box office, and Los Angeles accounts for about 30% of California. These cities have above-average ticket prices and population densities, as well as being hubs for the entertainment industry, making them extremely important to the financial well-being of the industry.
The reopening of these two cities for business gives studios the confidence to release major successful films and cinema operators the confidence to reopen locations. As of last weekend, about 51 percent of North American theater was open to the public, according to Comscore.