Regal Cinemas, the second-largest theater chain in the U.S., has postponed its planned reopening indefinitely, Movie Web reported. The company had previously set its reopening date for July 31, but have decided to delay those plans indefinitely. Originally, Regal had hoped to open on July 10. However, with studios continuously shifting their release calendar, theater chains have had to shuffle their plans as well. It is expected that AMC will do the same. The nation's largest chain has been on the verge of bankruptcy for months. Theaters originally closed in the U.S. back in mid-March. Even before the closure, AMC was saddled with tremendous debt, said to be in the $5 billion range. The company recently managed to rework some of its debt to stay afloat for a little while longer. But without being able to safely reopen, it is unclear how long AMC, Regal or Cinemark will be able to hold on without succumbing to bankruptcy. A report in June suggested that theaters were going to lose $30 billion in revenue this year, which represents a 60 percent decline in business. The problem right now is there is an odd game of chicken going on. Studios like Warner Bros. and Disney can't risk releasing blockbusters without a certain level of return at the box office. They both have budgets said to be in the $200 million range. At the same time, chains like Regal need new movies to get people in seats. While the plan is to show older classics and recent hits to drum up some business in the beginning, that likely isn't a sustainable model for these big chains. Drive-ins have had a lot of success during the shutdown, but that is still on a relatively smaller scale.
