Cineworld closures UK: When is Cineworld closing down?

5 October 2020, 08:40

Cineworld has confirmed it is closing 127 theatres in the UK. Picture: PA Images

Is Cineworld closing down and has it gone bust? Here’s what we know…

It was revealed this week that Cineworld will be closing 127 of its theatres across the UK and Ireland.

It comes after the huge blockbuster James Bond film, No Time To Die, was delayed until April next year.

But has Cineworld gone out of business and when is it shutting down? Find out everything…

When is Cineworld closing?

On Monday morning (October 5), Cineworld announced the temporary closure of 127 cinemas across the UK.

Cineworld confirms it's closing 127 UK cinemas from Thursday. Picture: PA Images

These theatres will all be closed from Thursday (October 8), with no indication as to when they will reopen.

In a statement, Chief executive Mooky Greidinger 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.

"We are especially grateful for and proud of the hard work our employees put in to adapt our theatres to the new protocols and cannot underscore enough how difficult this decision was."

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He added: "Cineworld will continue to monitor the situation closely and will communicate any future plans to resume operations in these markets at the appropriate time, when key markets have more concrete guidance on their reopening status and, in turn, studios are able to bring their pipeline of major releases back to the big screen."

Has Cineworld gone bust?

No, while the decision to close Cineworld theatres is financial, the company has not gone bust.

In September, Cineworld Group PLC reported a $1.6bn (£1.3bn) loss for the six months to June, after all it’s theatres had to close their doors because of coronavirus lockdowns.

As well as this, the delays to films such as The Fast and Furious’ F9, No Time to Die and Black Widow have meant cinemas aren’t seeing the sales they need.