Cineworld to close all its UK cinemas putting 5,500 jobs at risk

Probably the worst cinemas I’ve been to and I don’t go that often anymore anyway.
Hopefully this opens up the market for more independent cinemas.
 
Will miss it, but with no films to go and see - not going to miss it for the next 6 months.
We've been 4 times since lock-down ended (scheduled for another one tomorrow night if they don't close before then).
Managed to get the middle two seats on the back row each time and nobody within 4-5 seats either side of us. Everyone kept masks on throughout, one-way system so you went out the fire exit...
If there is nothing to see then it makes sense to mothball the operation for a few months.
 
Terminal_Boy said:
Alas, I suspect the Odeon chain will be next.

We used to be regular cinema goers, but the number of films worth shelling out the thick end of £25 for 2 tickets, snacks and drinks has tanked in recent years.
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Odeon still seems to be pulling in good numbers via their Luxe cinemas - the one I visit is well distanced, but never empty :)
 
Maundie said:
by all accounts a lot of people have been to see Tenet which goes to show if something is worth watching people will still go out.
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A fair amount, but it only made £40m when they wanted £200m. So you can see why the studios are holding back the tentpoles.
 
Scam said:
A fair amount, but it only made £40m when they wanted £200m. So you can see why the studios are holding back the tentpoles.
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But that's the issue, hold back let the cinemas close because they've nothing to show and then when you decide to release it you've not got enough cinema's to bring in the income you hope, be interesting seeing how much Tenet made in the cinemas to how much Mulan has made for Disney, I'd bet Tenet made more.
 
Maundie said:
I'd bet Tenet made more.
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It's an interesting comparison but by all accounts Tenet won't make back it's money and that's the end of the argument as far as studios are concerned.

As I posted in the thread in box office, the sad fact for cinemas is;
Scam said:
It says temporarily although obviously they are making people redundant. Sounds flippant but I can see them being able to bounce back quite quickly once it's viable. The majority of their jobs are relatively unskilled, easy for youngsters/anyone to jump into, and it's not like there's not going to be a big pool of people ready and willing when the time comes :(
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You're right though, it is a risk. But it's a bit like saying there will never be restaurants anymore because hundreds are closing down. Others will popup to replace them, if the current ones don't survive.
 
I mentioned this in a thread way back months ago but I think cinema's, as they stand right now, are doomed without a serious rethink on what they do. The only way I can see "some" cinemas surviving are those which downsize and change what they show, becoming smaller niche cinemas for "enthusiasts" rather than the general public, with only a few big cinemas surviving per county to show the big summer smash films.

I'd prefer to go to a smaller cinema and rewatch older films like Jaws, Predator, Shawshank, Trainspotting etc rather than go to a massive expensive multiplex whose film list looks more suited to Netflix than a cinema chain.

However I very much doubt that Cineworld's demise is the death of all cinema, but it's a warning to everyone else that things need to change rapidly before it's too late.
 
ianh said:
I mentioned this in a thread way back months ago but I think cinema's, as they stand right now, are doomed without a serious rethink on what they do. The only way I can see "some" cinemas surviving are those which downsize and change what they show, becoming smaller niche cinemas for "enthusiasts" rather than the general public, with only a few big cinemas surviving per county to show the big summer smash films.

I'd prefer to go to a smaller cinema and rewatch older films like Jaws, Predator, Shawshank, Trainspotting etc rather than go to a massive expensive multiplex whose film list looks more suited to Netflix than a cinema chain.

However I very much doubt that Cineworld's demise is the death of all cinema, but it's a warning to everyone else that things need to change rapidly before it's too late.
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I think a lot should have adapted and done that. There are plenty of films that I would love to rewatch as I was simply too young to watch at the time.
 
The only cinema I pay to attend is the small independent one up the road. Up until a couple of years ago I hadn't been to a major chain in decades, but got dragged along by a mate when the new Cineworld opened locally. Ended up nearly having a fight with some mouthy, jobsworth **** because he grabbed me and tried to bar me from entering due to a bag of Haribo.
 
adam cool dude said:
I think a lot should have adapted and done that. There are plenty of films that I would love to rewatch as I was simply too young to watch at the time.
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IIRC the biggest issue is not the Studios or the Cinema chains preventing these older films being reshown - it's the distributor "middle-men" who cause a lot of the issues with "rights" being sold around as to who can show these older films. It's an antiquated system which needs to die quickly if Cinemas are to survive but Distributors will fight any change to the bitter end as it would mean their own demise.
 
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