As more Americans are vaccinated for COVID-19 and lockdown restrictions are lifted, movie theater chain Regal Cinemas is seeking to reopen while striking a major deal with Warner Brothers studios.
Regal is set to reopen roughly 500 locations on April 2 at a limited capacity of between 25 and 50%. The theater chain is the second largest in the U.S., just behind AMC Theatres, and has been closed down for six months because of the pandemic.
“We have long-awaited this moment when we can welcome audiences back to our Regal theaters and restore our essential role within the communities we serve. With the health and safety of our customers, staff, and communities as our top priority, we continue to take all the necessary precautions and abide by our CinemaSafe guidelines to confidently provide a safe and comfortable experience,” said Cineworld CEO Mooky Greidinger.
The reopening coincides with the release of Warner Brothers’ Godzilla v. Kong, followed by the release of New Line’s Mortal Kombat. The reopening also lines up with Cineworld’s new deal with Warner Brothers.
The deal allows Warner Brothers to release its 2021 movies to the HBO Max streaming service at the same time the films are showing in theaters. Starting in 2022, Cineworld will have a 45-day exclusivity window before the movies are released on streaming service and an exclusivity window of 31 days in the U.K.
“We are very happy for the agreement with Warner Bros. This agreement shows the studio’s commitment to the theatrical business, and we see this agreement as an important milestone in our 100-year relationship with Warner Bros. This is a great moment for us – the U.S. market represents 75% of our business – and soon will be followed with all our markets. We are great believers in the theatrical experience, which only a year ago [2019] generated $43 billion worldwide,” said Greidinger.
When Warner Brothers decided to release all of its 2021 films simultaneously in theaters and on its streaming service HBO Max, it had to renegotiate deals with each cinema company to ensure that its movies would play on the big screen as well.
The pandemic has hit the theater industry especially hard, forcing the major chain to adapt to the changing COVID restrictions. AMC started allowing people to rent out theaters in their entirety for private screenings to boost revenue. The company lost $561.2 million during the pandemic’s peak, and revenues for the company topped off at $18.9 million, a 98 percent plunge from the year-ago period.
Warner Brothers has also been hit with the delay of significant movies because of the pandemic. Warner Brothers delayed the release of its highly anticipated superhero movie sequel Wonder Woman 1984, and the release of the Christopher Nolan film Tenet was initially delayed as well.
