Cineworld could shut all of its 128 UK and Ireland cinemas, putting thousands of jobs at risk, according to reports.
The cinema chain could announce the decision, which would 5,500 jobs at risk, as early as tomorrow, reports The Sunday Times.
It comes as bosses of Cineworld Group PLC, the world’s second-largest cinema chain, are reportedly preparing to write to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and culture minister Oliver Dowden to say the industry has become ‘unviable’.
Bosses at Cineworld have blamed the decision of movie studios to postpone big budget films in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, the paper reports.
This week the release of the new James Bond movie ‘No Time to Die’ was delayed until April 2021, just weeks before it was about to be released – following the original postponement of its release earlier this year due to coronavirus.
Cineworld could shut all of its 128 UK and Ireland cinemas, putting thousands of jobs at risk, according to reports
Fast & Furious sequel F9 is pushed back AGAIN to May 2021
The Fast And The Furious series will not be seeing the checkered flag anytime soon.
The release of the highly-anticipated sequel F9 has been delayed again as it is now set for release on May 28, 2021 during Memorial Day weekend it was announced by Universal on Friday.
Back in March it was reported that the film was delayed to April 3 2021 according to The Hollywood Reporter.
However the most recent change was made hours after James Bond film No Time to Die delayed its release from November to April 2, 2021.
Universal is distributing the film internationally.
The Fast and Furious movies are always big earners at the domestic and international box office and the absence of F9 will impact the 2020 box office in a major way. The past two films have made over $1 billion.
Just a month earlier the full trailer had been unveiled.
The clip showed Vin Diesel’s character Dominic Toretto facing off again his brother, Jakob, played by John Cena, with epic car chases and fights across London – and appearances by Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren.
On Friday, the release of the highly-anticipated Fast and Furious sequel F9 was also delayed again.
It is now set for release on May 28, 2021 during Memorial Day weekend, it was announced by Universal.
MailOnline has contacted Cineworld Group PLC for a comment.
Meanwhile, Phil Clapp, chief executive of the UK Cinema Association, described the reported closure of Cineworld cinemas as a ‘serious blow’.
He told the Sunday Times: ‘The announcement is probably the most serious blow to UK cinema operators of a number of similar announcements over the past few weeks and will undoubtedly cause a significant number of cinemas to close again.’
The UK cinema industry took a profit hit when the country was plunged into lockdown in March following the outbreak of coronavirus.
Cineworld was due to reopen on July 10, after lockdown measures were eased by the government, allowing the reopening of cinemas from July 4.
But it delayed the reopening of its cinemas in the UK by more than two weeks until July 31 to coincide with ‘recent adjustments to the schedule of upcoming movie releases’.
Social distancing measures were also introduced, including such as one-way systems, perspex screens for staff, mandatory contactless payment and no more pick and mix.
But blockbuster releases were in short supply throughout summer, with Christopher Nolan’s spy-thriller Tenent set to be one of the highlights.
However industry experts have reportedly been ‘spooked’ by the film’s lacklustre performance on the big screen, causing other major studios to postpone their major releases.
This includes the latest in the James Bond series ‘No Time To Die’, which had been scheduled to debut in theatres on November 11.
The latest film in the James Bond series ‘No Time To Die’, which had been scheduled to debut in theatres on November 11, has now been postponed until April 2021
But it will now be delayed ‘in order for it to be seen by a worldwide theatrical audience’, the film’s producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced this week.
A statement on Twitter read: ‘MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, today announced the release of NO TIME TO DIE, the 25th film in the James Bond series, will be delayed until 2 April 2021 in order to be seen by a worldwide theatrical audience.
‘We understand the delay will be disappointing to our fans but we now look forward to sharing NO TIME TO DIE next year.’
The 25th film in the franchise finds Bond after he has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica when his old friend Felix Leiter, played by Jeffrey Wright, from the CIA turns up asking for help.
Leaving his seemingly happy live with Madeleine, played by actress Lea Seydoux, Bond returns to the field to face Safin who is armed with a new dangerous technology that could impact the world.
The film, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, was originally scheduled for release in April 2020, but was pushed back to November in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
No Time To Die, which also stars Rami Malek as villain Safin and Ana de Armas as CIA agent Paloma, will deliver a satisfying ending for Daniel Craig’s Bond, according to producer Barbara Broccoli.
Reports of Cineworld closure plans comes amid a bloodbath of jobs on the high street, with 193,731 job losses now announced by major British employers since the start of the lockdown in March.
Earlier this week, TSB has said it will cut around 900 jobs as part of plans to close 164 of its high street bank branches.
The Edinburgh-based bank said it expects most of the redundancies to be voluntary but did not rule out forcing staff out.
TSB added that its branch network would be the seventh biggest in the UK after the closures reduce it by a third.
TSB also said that more than nine in ten customers will have less than 20 minutes travel to a branch, and that people are increasingly banking online.
The bank, part of Spain’s Sabadell, said the cuts were part of its three-year strategy to reduce costs to stay competitive.
The company has previously said it intended to reduce the size of its branch network but has now accelerated plans amid the pandemic.
Nearly 200,000 job losses revealed by UK firms since lockdown began
Some 192,831 job losses have been announced by major British employers since the start of the lockdown in March as follows:
- September 22 – Wetherspoon – 400 to 450
- September 22 – Whitbread – 6,000
- September 18 – Investec – 210
- September 15 – Waitrose – 124
- September 14 – London City Airport – 239
- September 9 – Lloyds Bank – 865
- September 9 – Pizza Hut – 450
- September 4 – Virgin Atlantic – 1,150
- September 3 – Costa – 1,650
- August 27 – Pret a Manger – 2,800 (includes 1,000 announced on July 6)
- August 26 – Gatwick Airport – 600
- August 25 – Co-operative Bank – 350
- August 20 – Alexander Dennis – 650
- August 18 – Bombardier – 95
- August 18 – Marks & Spencer – 7,000
- August 14 – Yo! Sushi – 250
- August 14 – River Island – 350
- August 12 – NatWest – 550
- August 11 – InterContinental Hotels – 650 worldwide
- August 11 – Debenhams – 2,500
- August 7 – Evening Standard – 115
- August 6 – Travelex – 1,300
- August 6 – Wetherspoons – 110 to 130
- August 5 – M&Co – 380
- August 5 – Arsenal FC – 55
- August 5 – WH Smith – 1,500
- August 4 – Dixons Carphone – 800
- August 4 – Pizza Express – 1,100 at risk
- August 3 – Hays Travel – up to 878
- August 3 – DW Sports – 1,700 at risk
- July 31 – Byron – 651
- July 30 – Pendragon – 1,800
- July 29 – Waterstones – unknown number of head office roles
- July 28 – Selfridges – 450
- July 27 – Oak Furnitureland – 163 at risk
- July 23 – Dyson – 600 in UK, 300 overseas
- July 22 – Mears – fewer than 200
- July 20 – Marks & Spencer – 950 at risk
- July 17 – Azzurri Group (owns Zizzi and Ask Italian) – up to 1,200
- July 16 – Genting – 1,642 at risk
- July 16 – Burberry – 150 in UK, 350 overseas
- July 15 – Banks Mining – 250 at risk
- July 15 – Buzz Bingo – 573 at risk
- July 14 – Vertu – 345 July 14 – DFS – up to 200 at risk
- July 9 – General Electric – 369
- July 9 – Eurostar – unknown number
- July 9 – Boots – 4,000
- July 9 – John Lewis – 1,300 at risk
- July 9 – Burger King – 1,600 at risk
- July 7 – Reach (owns Daily Mirror and Daily Express newspapers) – 550
- July 6 – Pret a Manger – 1,000 at risk
- July 2 – Casual Dining Group (owns Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge) – 1,909
- July 1 – SSP (owns Upper Crust) – 5,000 at risk
- July 1 – Arcadia (owns TopShop) – 500
- July 1 – Harrods – 700
- July 1 – Virgin Money – 300
- June 30 – Airbus – 1,700
- June 30 – TM Lewin – 600
- June 30 – Smiths Group – “some job losses”
- June 25 – Royal Mail – 2,000
- June 24 – Jet2 – 102
- June 24 – Swissport – 4,556
- June 24 – Crest Nicholson – 130
- June 23 – Shoe Zone – unknown number of jobs in head office
- June 19 – Aer Lingus – 500
- June 17 – HSBC – unknown number of jobs in UK, 35,000 worldwide
- June 15 – Jaguar Land Rover – 1,100
- June 15 – Travis Perkins – 2,500
- June 12 – Le Pain Quotidien – 200
- June 11 – Heathrow – at least 500
- June 11 – Bombardier – 600
- June 11 – Johnson Matthey – 2,500
- June 11 – Centrica – 5,000
- June 10 – Quiz – 93
- June 10 – The Restaurant Group (owns Frankie and Benny’s) – 3,000
- June 10 – Monsoon Accessorise – 545
- June 10 – Everest Windows – 188
- June 8 – BP – 10,000 worldwide
- June 8 – Mulberry – 375
- June 5 – Victoria’s Secret – 800 at risk
- June 5 – Bentley – 1,000
- June 4 – Aston Martin – 500
- June 4 – Lookers – 1,500
- May 29 – Belfast International Airport – 45
- May 28 – Debenhams (in second announcement) – “hundreds” of jobs
- May 28 – EasyJet – 4,500 worldwide
- May 26 – McLaren – 1,200
- May 22 – Carluccio’s – 1,000
- May 21 – Clarks – 900
- May 20 – Rolls-Royce – 9,000
- May 20 – Bovis Homes – unknown number
- May 19 – Ovo Energy – 2,600
- May 19 – Antler – 164
- May 15 – JCB – 950 at risk
- May 13 – Tui – 8,000 worldwide
- May 12 – Carnival UK (owns P&O Cruises and Cunard) – 450
- May 11 – P&O Ferries – 1,100 worldwide
- May 5 – Virgin Atlantic – 3,150
- May 1 – Ryanair – 3,000 worldwide
- April 30 – Oasis Warehouse – 1,800
- April 29 – WPP – unknown number
- April 28 – British Airways – 12,000
- April 23 – Safran Seats – 400
- April 23 – Meggitt – 1,800 worldwide
- April 21 – Cath Kidston – 900
- April 17 – Debenhams – 422
- March 31 – Laura Ashley – 268
- March 30 – BrightHouse – 2,400 at risk
- March 27 – Chiquito – 1,500 at risk
