Regal Bolingbrook To Shutter Amid Pandemic

BOLINGBROOK, IL — As the coronavirus pandemic rages across the nation, a theater chain with nine Illinois locations — including one in Bolingbrook — has announced it will shutter all of its theaters in the U.S. and U.K., at least temporarily.

On Sunday, Cineworld, which operates 543 Regal Theatres in the U.S., confirmed it was mulling the closures. On Monday, the company announced it will close more than 500 Regal cinemas in the U.S. and over 100 Cineworld and Picturehouse locations in the U.K.

"In response to an increasingly challenging theatrical landscape and sustained key market closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cineworld confirms that it will be temporarily suspending operations at all of its 536 Regal theatres in the US and its 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse theatres in the UK," the company said, adding the closures will take effect Thursday, Oct. 8. No reopening date has been announced.

The closings will affect 45,000 employees.

"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," Cineworld said, adding it "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."

CEO Mooky Greidinger said closing 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."

The news comes in response to MGM delaying the release of the newest James Bond film, "No Time To Die," from November until April 2021.

Regal Bolingbrook is located at 1221 W. Boughton Road.