Regal Cinemas considers bringing down the curtain
Five movie theaters in area may not reopen, even with clearance
Most movie theaters in the Capital Region could remain closed indefinitely — even if Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo gives the go-ahead for theaters to open in the state.
Cineworld, the parent company of Regal Cinemas, is reportedly planning to lock the doors of its movie theaters in the U.S. going forward due to the harm done to the industry by COVID -19. After the news was first broken Saturday night, the company confirmed that it was considering the move, but a final decision had not been made yet.
There are 44 Regal Cinemas in New York, including those in Albany, Colonie, East Greenbush, Clifton Park and Queensbury. They, along with all other movie theaters, remain closed right now regardless due to the pandemic, although Cuomo has issued guidelines to allow the reopening of schools, restaurants, gyms and casinos.
Most of the Regal Cinemas in the Capital Region are tied to
malls, including the 18theater Regal at Crossgates. If they were to go out of business it would be a blow not only to movie fans in the Capital Region, but also to the already struggling malls to which they are attached.
There are a number of other theaters in the Capital Region. Bow-tie Cinema, which runs Movieland 6 in Schenectady, and Wilton Mall Cinema proudly announced recently it had reopened in Connecticut and New Jersey.
Smaller movie houses, such as the Spectrum 8 — which is part of a chain called Landmark Theatres — as well as the Madison Theatre and Scotia Cinema, have also not announced closures. The Madison Theatre, which only recently reopened in Albany before the pan
demic, has been able to still do some business because it also makes food, hosting what it calls “jailbreak trivia” and open mic comedy nights. Scotia Cinema was selling takeout popcorn.
“If you look at our metrics, we started with the most essential businesses that posed the least risk. And then it was a gradation down to the least essential businesses that posed the most risk,” the governor said in August. Then last month Cuomo explained that the state would only be able to open up more fully when the infection rate is safely below 1 percent.
That rate has climbed over the past week, driven largely by outbreaks in downstate and in New York City.
Hollywood has struggled greatly since COVID -19 hit. Movie distributors had pinned high hopes on “Tenet,” the Christopher Nolan-direct
ed action movie released in the late summer, to inspire movie-goers to mask-up, brave the pandemic and go back to the cushy seats of their local theater. But the U.S. box office for the flick has reportedly been disappointing. Companies saw the writing on the wall. Disney canceled the theater release of “Mulan,” instead putting it out on its online platform, and the release of the next James Bond movie was delayed from November until April of next year.
Regal Cinemas is the second largest theater chain in the United States, with 549 locations across the U.S. and its territories.
“I’m sure there’s a whole group of people who say, ‘I cannot live without going to the movies. Life is going to the movies.’ I get that. But on a relative scale, a movie theater is less essential and it poses a high risk,” Cuomo said in August.