Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
The owner of the Regal United Artists Oxford Valley theater in Middletown Township has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but the theater will remain open and in operation, the company said.
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“Our cinemas remain open as we continue to welcome guests to the ‘Best Place to Watch a Movie,’” the company said in a statement.
The owner of the movie house, Cineworld Cinemas, has faced financial pressures and indications have pointed to a possible bankruptcy filing before the news this week.
“The company expects to ‘significantly’ slash its debt load with the support of its lenders in Chapter 11, according to the statement. It’s also planning to renegotiate its leases with US landlords and ‘pursue a real estate optimization strategy,’ it said. Cineworld is the second-largest movie theater chain, with more than 9,000 screens across 747 locations,” according to a report from Bloomberg News.
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British-based Cineworld Cinemas draws a large portion of its revenue from locations in America.
“The pandemic was an incredibly difficult time for our business, with the enforced closure of cinemas and huge disruption to film schedules that has led us to this point,” Cineworld Cinemas CEO Mooky Greidinger said in a statement.
The company said they have financing lined up and plan to use the bankruptcy filing to slash their debt.
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Greidinger said the filing will help restore a “resilient capital structure and effective business.”
The filing comes as movie theaters are rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic and celebrating a strong summer for films.
The Middletown Township theater was closed for a year during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it reopened to customers last year.
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The theater is the only one in the Levittown area, but there is an AMC Theater not far away in Bensalem Township.
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