THE exact date five Cineworld sites will shutter for good has been revealed.
Its sites across Glasgow Parkhead, Bedford, Loughborough, Yate and Swindon Regent Circus will close in just a matter of days.
However, a location in Hinckley will be saved after originally being marked for closure alongside the other five.
According to a report in The Mirror, the sites will shut for good on these exact dates:
Bosses at the troubled entertainment group announced the closures back in July, but the move needed to be approved by the courts first.
It forms part of a major restructuring plan to keep the company’s head above water.
Just yesterday, a judge gave the go-ahead for £16million to be injected into Cineworld’s four companies which form the business.
The cash came from the business’s parent company, with an extra £35million to also be made available.
Its four companies. Cine-UK Ltd, Cineworld Cinemas Ltd, Cineworld Cinema Properties Ltd and Cineworld Estates Ltd, will also negotiate leases for each of their 101 sites across the UK.
It comes as the chain is also said to be renegotiating rent agreements for around 50 of its sites.
Struggling businesses often do this to help lower their operating costs and help retain more of their brick-and-mortar estate.
However, landlords don’t need to accept what’s put forward in these discussions
This means that up to 50 additional Cineworld complexes could also be at risk of closure if the chain and its landlords cannot reach an agreement.
However, 25 cinemas will be left unaffected by the restructuring plans and will remain open for the foreseeable.
A spokesperson for the chain told the outlet that the plan would enable the business for “the long-term and ensure a sustainable future for Cineworld in the UK.”
However, news of the five closures has devasted locals in the affected areas.
One cinema-goer in Glasgow Parkhead, where Cineworld is set to close on October 6, described the move as “brutal”.
While another said: “I’ve got so many childhood memories of Parkhead Cineworld! Such a major loss.”
The Sun has approached Cineworld for comment.
This development follows a long period of trouble at Cineworld.
Just last year the business emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US.
Filing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy means a company intends to reorganise its debts and assets while remaining in business.
The company’s shares plunged almost 99% in the five years to 2023, as it was hit particularly hard by the pandemic and the enforced closure of its cinema sites.
Shortly after, Cineworld’s UK arm collapsed into administration on July 31.
The cinema chain was delisted from the London Stock Exchange a day later.
When a company enters administration in the UK, all control is passed to an appointed administrator, who must be a licensed insolvency practitioner.
A lot of major cinema chains have struggled following the pandemic, as customers got used to streaming films from home.
Big blockbusters such as the Barbie Movie and Oppenheimer drove punters back to the movie theatre last year, but it has not been enough to keep some venues afloat.
CINEWORLD isn't the only chain that's struggling.
Odeon confirmed it would close five of its branches in May last year.
Empire Cinema also closed multiple sites in 2023 after falling into administration in July of the same year.
The company made the decision following “a thorough assessment of all available options”.
The hospitality sector has been struggling too.
In April, family favourite restaurant chain Whitbread revealed it was set to shut more than 200 locations and axe 1,500 jobs.
It shared the plans in its full year results, saying it planned to convert 112 restaurants into hotel extensions while closing 126 “loss-making” venues.
Pub giant Wetherspoons has been closing boozers across the UK too, and Byron Burger fell into administration last year.
In March, pizza giant Papa Johns said it would close dozens of locations.
