Cineworld has confirmed it will temporarily shut its 536 cinemas across the US and 127 in the UK due to “increasingly challenging” market conditions.
In a statement, the company said all cinemas will close on Thursday. The move will affect 45,000 employees.
The cinema chain said the lack of new films has meant customers are not returning to cinemas as Covid-19 restrictions continue.
Mooky Greidinger, chief executive of Cineworld, said: “This is not a decision we made lightly, and we did everything in our power to support safe and sustainable reopenings in all of our markets – including meeting, and often exceeding, local health and safety guidelines in our theatres and working constructively with regulators and industry bodies to restore public confidence in our industry.”
Cineworld also announced in its interim results on 24 September that it might consider “raising additional liquidity” if it was forced to close operations again.
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