Regal Cinemas, 2nd largest chain in US, to reopen in April
NEW YORK โ Regal Cinemas, the second largest movie theater chain in the U.S., will reopen beginning April 2, its parent company, Cineworld Group, announced Tuesday. Regal had been one of most notable holdouts in the gradual reopening of cinemas nationwide. That doesn't apply to Warner releases this year, which are streaming simultaneously on HBO Max when they open in theaters. โWe are very happy for the agreement with Warner Bros." said Mooky Greidinger, chief executive of Cineworld. Universal Pictures last November agreed to deals with AMC and Cinemark โ the first- and third-largest chains โ to shrink the theatrical window to 17 days, or three weekends.
In seismic shift, Warner Bros. to stream all 2021 films
This image released by Warner Bros. Entertainment shows Timothee Chalamet, left, and Rebecca Ferguson in a scene from the upcoming 2021 film "Dune." The move follows Warner Bros.' decision to put โWonder Woman 1984โ on HBO Max in December, along with a concurrent theatrical run. Warner Bros.' move amounts to an acknowledgement that any full rebound for theaters is still a year or more away. Warner Bros. confirmed the films will be available to subscribers with no further charge. After a rocky rollout, HBO Max said in October that nearly 9 million people were using HBO Max, though 29 million had access to the streaming service as part of their HBO subscriptions.
โWeโre lucky,โ Santikos CEO says after Regal theaters announce closures
Regal Cinema, the second largest cinema chain in the nation announced Monday it is temporarily closing all of its U.S. theaters and some in the UK. Santikos Entertainment CEO Tim Handren told KSAT his theaters have suffered some blows, but nothing to that extent. Handren said out of the nine local Santikos theaters, seven are open to customers. The National Association of Theater Owners adopted our standards,โ Handren said. As for Regal Cinemas, the statement released Monday said the closures are temporary, but did not say anything about when the theaters might reopen.