Regal Cinemas will close 3 Philadelphia-area movie theaters after filing for bankruptcy
Locations in Oaks, Doylestown, and May's Landing will join 36 others nationwide that will lose their leases in February.
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Regal Cinemas is slated to shutter three movie theaters in the Philadelphia suburbs next month as the company continues a string of bankruptcy-induced closures.
The theaters — Barn Plaza Stadium 14 in Doylestown, Oaks Stadium 24 in Oaks, and Hamilton Commons Stadium 14 in Mays Landing, N.J. — join a list of 36 others that will lose their leases on Feb. 15 after Regal’s parent company, Cineworld, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September.
The most recent filings link the closures to deferred payments from earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic on top of rising rent costs, claiming the average monthly rent per Regal theater increased by 30% from 2019 to 2022.
“In total, the Debtors estimate that rejecting the Leases will save their estates approximately $22 million annually,” read Cineworld’s January bankruptcy filing.
The closures will also include locations in New York, Washington, and California, where some towns will lose their last movie theater.
Regal is the second-largest cinema chain in the United States, behind only AMC Theatres, yet currently has more than $4.8 billion in debt. The chain’s problem isn’t unique — AMC narrowly avoided bankruptcy in 2021, while other chains have faced similar financial headwinds.
Most haven’t recouped losses from the months spent shuttered early in the pandemic. Production delays and competition from streaming services have left marquees emptier than usual, causing a box office drought.
That, some say, can’t be fixed by a couple of blockbuster releases like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Top Gun: Maverick, two flashy sequels that battled to set records in 2022.