Huge cinema chain gives new major update on its future after filing for bankruptcy
A HUGE cinema chain has given a major update on its future after filing for bankruptcy.
Cineworld said it expects to come out of bankruptcy protection in July after receiving backing from lenders.
The company stressed it is continuing to run its venues “as usual without interruption”.
It added: “The group continues to honour the terms of all existing customer membership programmes, including Regal Unlimited and Regal Crown Club in the United States and Cineworld Unlimited in the UK.”
The chain is also moving forward with plans to restructure its roughly five billion US dollars (£4billion) debt pile.
It comes after the world’s second largest cinema chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US last year due to giant debts and low footfall to its venues.
Filing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy means a company intends to reorganise its debts and assets while remaining in business.
At the time, the future of the chain’s 129 UK and Irish cinemas looked to be at risk.
But in April it said would raise $2.26billion (£1.8 billion) in new funding in order to remain operational.
The firm operates 103 cinemas under the Cineworld brand across the UK and the Republic of Ireland:
- Aberdeen – Queens Links
- Aberdeen – Union Square
- Aldershot
- Ashford
- Ashton-under-Lyne
- Barnsley
- Basildon
- Bedford
- Belfast
- Birmingham – Broad Street
- Birmingham – NEC
- Boldon Tyne and Wear
- Bolton
- Bracknell
- Bradford
- Braintree
- Brighton
- Bristol
- Broughton
- Burton upon Trent
- Bury St Edmunds
- Cardiff
- Castleford
- Cheltenham
- Chesterfield
- Chichester
- Crawley
- Dalton Park
- Didcot
- Didsbury
- Dover
- Dundee
- Eastbourne at The Beacon
- Edinburgh
- Ely
- Falkirk
- Glasgow – Parkhead
- Glasgow – Renfrew Street
- Glasgow – Silverburn
- Gloucester Quays
- Harlow – Harvey Centre
- Harlow – Queensgate
- Haverhill
- Hemel Hempstead
- High Wycombe
- Hinckley
- Hull
- Huntingdon
- Ipswich
- Leeds – White Rose
- Leigh
- Llandudno
- London – Bexleyheath
- London – Enfield
- London – Feltham
- London – Hounslow
- London – Ilford
- London – Leicester Square
- London – South Ruislip
- London – The O2 Greenwich
- London – Wandsworth
- London – Wembley
- London – West India Quay
- London – Wood Green
- Loughborough
- Luton
- Middlesbrough
- Milton Keynes
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Newport – Friars Walk
- Newport – Isle of Wight
- Newport – Spytty Park
- Northampton
- Nottingham
- Plymouth
- Poole
- Rochester
- Rugby
- Runcorn
- Rushden Lakes
- Sheffield
- Shrewsbury
- Solihull
- Speke
- Stevenage
- St Helens
- St Neots
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Swindon – Regent Circus
- Swindon – Shaw Ridge
- Telford
- Wakefield
- Warrington
- Watford
- Weston-super-Mare
- Weymouth
- Whiteley
- Witney
- Wolverhampton
- Yate
- Yeovil
- York
- Dublin
It also runs a further 26 cinemas under the Picturehouse brand:
- Ashford
- Bath – Little Theatre Cinema
- Brighton – Duke of York’s
- Brighton – Duke’s at Komedia
- Cambridge – Arts
- Edinburgh – Cameo
- Exeter
- Henley-on-Thames – Regal
- Liverpool – Fact
- London – Bromley
- London – Clapham
- London – Crouch End
- London – East Dulwich
- London – Finsbury Park
- London – Fulham Road
- London – Greenwich
- London – Hackey
- London – Picturehouse Central
- London – Ritzy
- London – Stratford
- London – The Gate
- London – West Norwood
- Norwich – Cinema City
- Oxford – Phoenix
- Southampton – Harbour Lights
- York – City Screen
Cineworld will also open three new Picturehouse cinemas in Chester, Ealing and Epsom.
The company’s shares have plunged almost 99% over the past five years, as it was hit particularly hard by the pandemic, which led to the enforced closure of its cinema sites.
The business has posted significant losses since and has also come under pressure from platforms offering streaming services, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.
The company employs 28,000 workers globally, with operations in 10 countries.
It runs almost 130 sites in the UK and Republic of Ireland and roughly 750 globally.
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