Cineworld is heading for bankruptcy, according to numerous reports by the Wall Street Journal and Reuters.
The cinema chain, which operates in 10 countries with 751 sites including Dublin's Parnell Street, is understood to begin seeking bankruptcy protection in the US and is considering insolvency proceedings in the UK. So far, the Irish presence of the cinema chain hasn't released any statements on the issue. The statement released by Cineworld on Wednesday said that "(despite) a gradual recovery of demand since reopening in April 2021, recent admission levels have been below expectations." It added that "lower levels of admissions are due to a limited film slate that is anticipated to continue until November 2022 and are expected to negatively impact trading and the group’s liquidity position in the near term."
The cinema chain owns Regal Cinemas in the US, Picturehouse Cinemas in the UK, and Cineworld here in Dublin. Per the WSJ, the cinema chain racked up debts of over $4 billion and blamed a lack of blockbusters and poor cinema attendance for its financial woes. However, AMC Entertainment, which operates the Odeon cinema chain, saw its ticket sales double in the US and has a current market value of $12.8 billion - in stark contrast to Cineworld's current market value of just under $50 million.
Cineworld's woes began in the pandemic, however more recently, it was hit with a billion-dollar lawsuit from Canadian chain Cineplex when it pulled out of a takeover deal in 2020. At the time, the deal was understood to be worth $2.1 billion, but fell through with both sides blaming the other for the collapsing deal.
Cineworld have released no further statements.
