World's Second Largest Cinema Chain Cineworld Is Filing For Bankruptcy

thegamer.com:

Despite the increasing rate at which the cinema industry continues to return to normalcy since the pandemic, Cineworld has failed to negate the effect COVID-19 has had on its industry. So much so that today it was revealed the chain, which is the second biggest of its kind in the world, has filed for bankruptcy.

The news comes courtesy of The Wall Street Journal, revealing Cineworld has racked up $4.8 billion in debt. $3 billion of that total was reigstered in 2020, a year during which cinemas around the world were largely closed from March onwards due to the pandemic. However, Cineworld has failed to turn things around despite people returning to its theaters throughout 2021 and into 2022, and now that debt has reached a point where the company has been forced to file for bankruptcy.

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Cineworld is expected to file a chapter 11 petition in the US and move forward with insolvency proceedings in the UK. However, it actually has 751 sites across ten different countries, making it the second biggest cinema company in the world. The only chain that betters it is AMC which has actually experienced a turn of fortune since the pandemic started to wind down and movies returned to cinemas.

AMC claimed the return of the summer blockbuster, most notably 2022's Dr. Strange and Top Gun sequels, doubled ticket sales in the US. It added that July was its best month for ticket sales since the start of the pandemic. As for Cineworld, while the blame will be placed at the feet of COVID-19 and certain movies skipping cinemas entirely, XTB's chief market analyst Walid Koudmani says that isn't the only reason Cineworld continues to suffer.

“Its aggressive acquisition