Regal Theatres Closing All Locations, Including 4 In CT

CONNECTICUT — Coronavirus hasn't just sickened millions worldwide and claimed the lives of more than 200,000 Americans — it's also prompted business closings across the globe. Now, a theater chain with four Connecticut locations has announced it is "suspending operations" at all of its theaters in the U.S. and U.K., at least temporarily.

After teasing the news on social media over the weekend, the theater chain's parent company, Cineworld, dropped the bomb in a news release Monday morning:

"As major US. markets, mainly New York, remained closed and without guidance on reopening timing, studios have been reluctant to release their pipeline of new films. In turn, without these new releases, Cineworld cannot provide customers in both the US and the UK - the company's primary markets - with the breadth of strong commercial films necessary for them to consider coming back to theatres against the backdrop of COVID-19."

The company operates 536 Regal Theaters in the U.S. Worldwide. The suspension of operations will impact approximately 45,000 employees, according to Cineworld.

"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," said Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Cineworld.

In Connecticut, Regal operates four theaters:

• Branford, Regal Branford
• Pawcatuk, Regal Stonington
• Waterbury, Regal Brass Mill
• Waterford, Regal Waterford

Regal is the second-largest theater chain in the U.S., behind AMC, and the largest in the U.K., according to comicbook.com.

Its Connecticut theaters are currently open but in many cases showing older movies it touts as "classics," including "Hocus Pocus" (1993) "Magic Mike" (2012) and a 40th anniversary screening of "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980). Some new releases, including "Tenet" and "The New Mutants," are also being screened after moving forward with their release dates despite the pandemic.

"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," Greidinger said.

Theaters are among the many businesses hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, with some cinema chains pushing back reopening dates over the summer as the virus continued to take its toll.

Coronavirus has pushed back the release of dozens of movies, including expected blockbusters like "Black Widow," which was originally set for release on May 1 (now tentatively expected in theaters May 7, 2021), "Wonder Woman 1984" (moved from a June 1 release to Christmas Day) and "The Batman" (moved from June 2021 to October 2021).

Crucially, MGM has delayed the release of the newest James Bond film, "No Time To Die," from November until April 2021.