Bellingham’s Regal movie theater to remain closed due to COVID-19 pandemic
The Regal Barkley Village movie theater will remain dark for the foreseeable future due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cineworld Group, the parent company for all 536 Regal cinemas in the United States including Bellingham’s Regal Barkley Village Stadium 16 cinema, announced the temporary closure of all its movie theaters across the U.S. beginning Thursday, Oct. 8, in a release Monday. As many as 40,000 employees are at risk of losing their jobs.
“This is not a decision we made lightly, and we did everything in our power to support a safe and sustainable reopening in the U.S. — from putting in place robust health and safety measures at our theatres to joining our industry in making a collective commitment to the CinemaSafe protocols to reaching out to state and local officials to educate them on these initiatives,” Cineworld CEO Mooky Greidinger said in the release.
The decision comes just days after news that the newest James Bond film, “No Time to Die,” was delayed yet again due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, ABC News reported. Without blockbuster releases, Cineworld Group said it can’t give theater-goers “the breadth of strong commercial films necessary for them to consider coming back to theaters against the backdrop of COVID-19.’’
Theaters in major markets, such as New York City, have remained closed, according to the release, and in response movie studios have been reluctant to release new films.
The lack of new flicks has also hurt the theater industry, as studios have been slow to release its latest projects. “No Time to Die” was set to be the biggest draw of the year but now won’t hit screens until spring 2021. Pixar’s “Soul” and Warner Bros. anticipated “Wonder Woman 1984” are among the few big movies scheduled to release this year, according to Variety.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal Monday, Greidinger likened Regal’s predicament to a grocery store that isn’t receiving produce to sell.
“Despite our work, positive feedback from our customers and the fact that there has been no evidence to date linking any COVID cases with cinemas, we have not been given a route to reopen in New York, although other indoor activities — like indoor dining, bowling and casinos were already allowed,” Greidinger said in the release. “The prolonged closures have had a detrimental impact on the release slate for the rest of the year, and, in turn, our ability to supply our customers with the lineup of blockbusters they’ve come to expect from us. As such, it is simply impossible to continue operations in our primary markets.”
Regal will continue to monitor the situation and announce any future plans to resume operations when appropriate, the release stated.
Earlier Monday, Cineworld Cinemas announced via Twitter that it had closed all its theaters in the United Kingdom and Ireland. That came a day after the company tweeted that it was “considering” the temporary closure on both sides of the Atlantic.
Regal began reopening theaters in mid-August but with several precautions in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus, including mask requirements, contactless ticket purchases and limiting seating in theaters to 50% capacity, McClatchy News previously reported. The theater in Bellingham was not one of the theaters Regal reopened.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
