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Regal Cinemas in talks for rescue deal
Theater chain, owned by Cineworld, closed all 500 US locations last month
![The second-largest movie theater operator in the U.S. is hunting for a financial lifeline (iStock)](https://static.therealdeal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/regal-cinemas.jpg)
The parent company of Regal Cinemas, the second-largest movie theater operator in the U.S., is hunting for a financial lifeline.
U.K.-based Cineworld is in talks with investors for rescue financing or debt to fund a bankruptcy proceeding, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The company reported that revenue in the first half of 2020 declined 67 percent to $712 million. It has $4 billion in lease obligations and $4 billion in debt overall. Last month, it re-shuttered its more than 500 U.S. theaters after reopening in August.
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![The Regal Cinemas chain will suspend operations at all of its US movie theaters (Getty)](https://static.therealdeal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ft-regal-cinemas-250x179.jpg)
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![For many movie theaters, Covid-19, which has kept viewers at home and new releases from the screen, feels like the final curtain. (iStock)](https://static.therealdeal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ft-movie-theaters-feature-200x143.jpg)
In September, Cineworld said it had taken steps to improve its cash flow. Staying closed, however, could be less expensive than remaining open with few moviegoers. Lackluster performance of a Labor Day weekend premier of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” led observers to question whether movie theaters would return even after the pandemic eases.
In the short-term, many movies are being released directly to streaming services, skipping traditional theaters altogether. With more Americans couch-bound, demand for production space has surged. In June, Blackstone was in talks with Hudson Pacific Properties to develop production space in Los Angeles — a deal valued at $1.4 billion.
Meanwhile, movie release dates — including “James Bond,” “Dune” and a sequel to “Top Gun” — have been delayed until 2021 and beyond.
AMC Entertainment Holdings, the largest movie-theater operator in the U.S., has said it would run out of cash by the end of the year if conditions did not improve.
[WSJ] — Georgia Kromrei