Regal Cinemas hopes to reopen U.S. locations by March

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Regal Cinemas, which is one of the largest movie theater chains in the U.S., is hoping to get its locations in the U.S. up and running by March. The chain shut down again in October of 2020 after briefly reopening following their first closure due to the pandemic. The decision was made to shutter their doors once again when No Time To Die delayed its release until April 2, 2021. The company is now seeing possible hope on the horizon as they expect to open again by March.

The announcement came via Twitter when the second-largest theater chain in the U.S., behind only AMC, made it known that they intend to open again once New York City and Los Angeles clear the way. The theater chain may feel hopeful as the vaccines have begun to roll out, albeit slowly, that has given exhibitors a glimmer of hope that these markets that have been troubled the most by the pandemic will feel comfortable to allow theaters to open again once it's deemed safe. Here is what the company had to say about the issue in their tweet:

"Big movies are made for the big screen and we plan to open our theatres once NYC and LA allow, we hope this happens by March."

Los Angeles and New York City are two of the nation's biggest moviegoing markets and for much of 2020, theaters have been shuttered in both cities. Movie theaters in various locations have resumed operations in the U.S. and throughout much of the world but regulations in these two cities have prevented theaters from reopening in their respective areas. 

Whether or not they can stick to this schedule is the true question. Los Angeles has seen a great surge of COVID-19 and ICU capacity issues since November it has only gotten progressively worse. According to Los Angeles Health Officials, we haven't even seen the impact from the Christmas and New Year's Eve festivities so another surge is likely imminent. New York City isn't experiencing a surge quite like Los Angeles but things aren't near normal in that area either. The one upside at play is that it's the beginning of January and a lot can change between now and March, especially as more people have access to the vaccine. There is hope that theater locations in these cities could open by March, most likely in a limited capacity, once the surge and spread begins to slow down. That seems to be Regal's hope and it could very well be the case unless things get completely out of hand with the virus.

Regal, along with other theater chains, have struggled over the last year due to the pandemic. Even outside of their locations having to close, major studio releases opted to debut on streaming or bump their debuts to 2021. This left theaters with very little to show and this also made the 2020 box office take a nosedive. This allowed China to overtake the U.S. at the box office for the first time in history. Adding more stress to exhibitors was WarnerMedia's decision to release their 2021 film slate of 17 films in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously. This is bound to hurt exhibitors, even as they begin to reopen more throughout the year but if there is a light at the end of the tunnel, the 2021 box office will see a vast improvement once vaccines continue to rollout and theaters in major markets can begin to safely reopen once again.

Do YOU think Regal Cinemas will reopen by March?