- Cineworld has sought to exit its leases for 130 theaters in the US.
- A bankruptcy court in Texas has already approved its plan to walk away from 47 of those locations.
- Cineworld filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September.
Cineworld has sought to close 130 movie theaters in the US over the course of its ongoing bankruptcy in Texas, according to court filings.
The company, which runs a number of Regal, Eastgate, and other theater locations, filed for Chapter 11 in September, and has since filed motions to exit the leases of “unprofitable, underperforming, or otherwise undesirable” theaters, according to a filing in March.
The company’s plan to close locations during its bankruptcy is fairly routine. The Chapter 11 process makes it easier for companies to walk away from leases without incurring major penalties and to press landlords for better terms, but the bankruptcy court needs to sign off on such proposals.
So far, the Texas bankruptcy court overseeing the proceedings has approved the company’s plan to exit 47 leases, according to court filings. It’s not clear if those venues have already been closed.
A representative for Cineworld declined to comment on Friday, and attorneys for Cineworld did not respond to Insider’s emailed request for comment.
Cineworld wrote in a court filing in March that it was continuing to negotiate with landlords about leases that it’s trying to exit from, for which it doesn’t yet have the court’s blessings to do so.
Cineworld told the court in January that its plan at the time to reject the leases for some 39 locations would help it save $22 million a year, and that it is still working with landlords to preserve other theaters.
Cineworld filed for bankruptcy at a time when the larger theatrical industry has been struggling to fully rebound from the pandemic. The North American box office hit $7.4 billion in 2022, according to Comscore, down from over $11 billion in 2019 and 2018.
The 47 movie theaters the bankruptcy court has allowed Cineworld to close:
- Amarillo Star Stadium 14 IMAX and RPX (Amarillo, TX)
- Anaheim Hills 14 (Anaheim Hills, CA)
- Arbor 8 at Great Hills (Austin, TX)
- Brass Mill Stadium 12 (Waterbury, CT)
- Broadway Faire Stadium 10 (Fresno, CA)
- Calabasas Stadium 6 (Calabasas, CA)
- Colonnade Stadium 14 (Las Vegas, NV)
- Crow Canyon Stadium 6 (San Ramon, CA)
- Gravois Bluffs Stadium 12 (Fenton, MO)
- Greenville Grande Stadium 14 (Greenville, NC)
- Middleburg Town Square Stadium 16 (Cleveland, OH)
- Parkway Plaza Stadium 12 (Tukwila, WA)
- Richland Crossing Stadium 12 (Quakertown, PA)
- River City Marketplace Stadium 14 (Jacksonville, FL)
- Sherwood Stadium 10 (Sherwood, OR)
- West Oaks Mall Stadium 14 and RPX (Houston, TX)
- Westpark 8 (Irvine, CA)
- Shoppingtown 14 (Syracuse, NY)
- Jackson Cinema 4 (Jackson, CA)
- Berkshire Mall 10 (Lanesborough, MA)
- Bossier Corners Cinema 9 (Bossier City, LA)
- Court Street Stadium 12 and RPX (Brooklyn, NY)
- Phillips Place (Charlotte, NC)
- Santa Maria 10 (Santa Maria, CA)
- Tara Cinemas 4 (Atlanta, GA)
- Denver West Village Stadium 12 (Golden, CO)
- Coconut Point Stadium 16 (Bonita Springs, FL)
- Cinebarre Arboretum Stadium 11 (Charlotte, NC)
- Lincolnshire Stadium 15 and IMAX (Lincolnshire, IL)
- High Ridge 8 (Albuquerque, NM)
- Breckenridge Stadium 12 (Little Rock, AR)
- Hollywood Stadium 14 – Topeka (Topeka, KS)
- College Station Stadium 14 (Springfield, MO)
- South Sound Cinema 10 (Port Orchard, WA)
- Niagara Falls Stadium 12 (Niagara Falls, NY)
- Parkway Place Stadium 10 (Flowood, MS)
- Permian Palace Stadium 11 and IMAX (Odessa, TX)
- Great Northern Mall Stadium 10 & RPX (North Olmsted, OH)
- Montrose Movies Stadium 12 (Akron, OH)
- Barn Plaza Stadium 14 (Doylestown, PA)
- Round Lake Beach Stadium 18 (Round Lake Beach, IL)
- Shadowood 16 (Boca Raton, FL)
- Village Square Stadium 18 (Las Vegas, NV)
- Berkeley 7 (Berkeley, CA)
- Omaha Stadium 16 ( Omaha, NE)
- Brunswick 10 (Brunswick, ME)
- Fenway Stadium 13 and RPX (Boston, MA)