What’s Going On Here?Cineworld announced plans to shut all 663 of its movie theaters worldwide after another Bond delay killed any hopes of a big payday. What Does This Mean?The massive movie house owns 536 Regal theaters in the US and 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse theaters in the UK. And ever since the pandemic struck, it’s seen its earnings knocked by compulsory shutdowns and, more recently, a serious shortage of new tentpole films. Studios, after all, don’t want to release their expensive blockbusters to small audiences and low ticket sales.
Tenet’s been the only major release since lockdowns loosened, and its poor performance hasn’t gone unnoticed. In fact, it may have prompted Disney to release Mulan on its Disney+ streaming service rather than in theaters, while the new and already-delayed James Bond film has just been postponed again until spring. And seeing as Cineworld doesn’t see much point in keeping its cinemas open if there’s nothing to show, its 45,000 workers around the world are now at risk of losing their jobs. Why Should I Care?For markets: Roll credits.
Cineworld’s stock fell 40% on Monday, and US cinema chains AMC and Cinemark’s shares felt the effects too, falling 11% and 13% respectively. As for whether Cineworld will reopen further down the line, it depends on whether it can survive: the company lost over $1.5 billion in the first half of 2020, versus an almost $120 million profit in the first half of 2019. And with just $285 million left in the bank, the cinema chain will need to raise extra money however it can – and fast.
The bigger picture: Night night, nights-out.
If Cineworld’s problems weren’t proof enough of a suffering leisure industry, restaurant chain Pizza Express’s recent bankruptcy protection filing in the US sure is. So much for dinner and a movie: looks like date nights are more about Uber Eats and Netflix these days (tweet this). | 
