Regal’s New Rochelle theater among only 22 in U.S. reopening next week

The Regal movie theater at New Roc City in New Rochelle is one of only 22 of the chain”™s 536 U.S. theaters that will be reopening April 2 after the Covid-19 shutdown.

The film “Godzilla vs. Kong” will be featured in the 22 theaters. Reopenings of additional theaters are planned beginning April 16 when the film “Mortal Kombat” will be added.

Regal is part of the Cineworld Group, headquartered in London. Its theaters are in 42 states along with the District of Columbia and Guam. Before the pandemic the firm was showing movies on 7,076 screens.

Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Cineworld, said, “We have long-awaited this moment when we can welcome audiences back to our Regal theatres and restore our essential role within the communities we serve. With capacity restrictions expanding to 50% or more across most U.S. states, we will be able to operate profitably in our biggest markets. We will also be monitoring developments closely in the U.K. and across Europe as we set to gradually reopen across the world in line with local government guidance.”

Guidance for movie theaters in New York state issued at the end of February authorized 25% capacity with no more than 50 audience members at a screening, as well as the use of masks, assigned seating, social distancing, staff to control traffic flow and seating and enhanced air filtration and ventilation.

The only other of Regal’s 44 theaters in New York reopening April 2 are in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Astoria and Deer Park. None of Regal”™s four theaters in Connecticut are scheduled for reopening on that date.

In a financial report released yesterday, Cineworld said it had 2020 revenues of $852.3 million and an after-tax loss of $2.651 billion. That was in sharp contrast to the 2019 financials, which showed the company earning a profit of $183 million on revenues of $4.369 billion.

The company also announced an agreement with Warner Bros. regarding exhibition of new films. While some production studios have been releasing new films via video streaming during the pandemic and plan to continue streaming releases simultaneously with release to theaters, Cineworld announced that Warner Bros. will provide it with an exclusive theatrical window of 31 days for new releases prior to video on-demand showings, with an extended window of 45 days for films that do well at the box office.