Regal Cinemas re-closes; will shut down all 536 locations

After commencing a re-opening in August, Regal Cinemas has once again shut down all 536 of its theaters following MGM/Universal announcement of the delay of “No Time to Die,” the new James Bond Film.

Despite social distancing protocols that severely reduce theater headcounts, cinemas had begun to increase traffic at malls and shopping centers in the United States. Hollywood, however, wasn’t cooperating. “Dune,” forecasted to be a holiday hit in December, had its release moved from December to next October by Warner Bros.

“If the studios continue postponing all their releases, the movie theaters aren’t going to be there for those postponed releases. They have to consider whether they want the long-term viability of the theater platform to be available to them,” John Fithian, head of the National Association of Theatre Owners told the New York Times.

Some 40,000 Regal employees will once again be furloughed with the re-closings.