Embattled cinema operator Cineworld continues its cost-cutting drive, with six more sites across the UK to close in the coming months.
After closing five cinemas in October, the Cineworld group has announced plans to shut another five sites across the UK after fresh agreements with landlords failed to be reached. The venues set to close their doors, as reported by the Liverpool Echo, are Castleford, Leigh, Middlesbrough, Northampton, Poole and Weymouth.
While today’s news that Wolverhampton’s Lighthouse is set to enter redevelopment (with a new name) is welcome, the news that the UK is losing another six venues is a bitter pill to swallow, leaving more parts of the country underserved or not served at all. A quick scan of the Cineworld subreddit reveals how many people are now facing treks of many miles just to get themselves in front of the nearest cinema screen.
Cineworld has at least announced that its restructuring plan is now complete, meaning these closures will (hopefully) be the last ones and that the company – whose global arm really over-extended itself and is now paying the price as economic headwinds swirl – is now in better health and faces a more certain future in the UK.
That will be scant consolation for those who live in areas that are affected by these closures, however. Take a look at the subreddit above, and there’s plenty of posts of cinema fans being ‘devastated’ or talking about how a regular trip to the cinema (made cheaper by the company’s Unlimited membership) was a mental health anchor for them.
It’s rubbish news, and we can only hope that 2025 ushers in a brighter future for the theatrical business. Cineworld, in particular, had to survive largely on repertory showings this year, as the pipeline of major films again seized up as a result of last year’s Hollywood strikes.
Here’s hoping that next year will be a brighter one for the industry at large.
