The Regal Union Square multiplex cinema will remain open after it reached a lease agreement with its landlord, the Related Companies, the groups announced last week.
The announcement means the prominent movie theater, which presents both blockbusters and critical darlings on 17 screens, will remain open for the foreseeable future, despite an earlier announcement it would close following a bankruptcy filing by Cineworld, Regal’s parent company.
Cineworld and Related announced the lease deal in a press release on Thursday, June 15.
“Regal Union Square is a state-of-the-art theatre featuring the latest advancements to the moviegoing experience,” said Mooky Greidinger, Cineworld’s CEO, in a statement. “In cooperation with our partners at Related, we are excited to enter into a long-term lease agreement for this premiere entertainment destination providing moviegoers from the area the best place to watch a movie for many years to come.”
Related’s senior vice president Chad Jones said the real estate giant is “thrilled to continue our long-term relationship with Regal in the heart of Union Square.”
The press release did not include information on the monthly rent, term of the lease, or whether the cinema will retain all of the space it currently has. Related declined further comment, while Cineworld did not return a request for comment.
The 2,000-seat multiplex never actually closed its doors despite the announcement earlier this year, and has 66 movie showings scheduled for Tuesday, including The Flash, Elemental, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and The Little Mermaid.
Cineworld announced in January that it would close 39 Regal locations across the nation, including Union Square, after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Regal has 450 theaters with over 6,000 screens in its nationwide portfolio, according to Cineworld.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought an existential crisis to the movie theater industry, which saw cinemas nationwide shutter for extended periods during lockdown. Ever since, theaters have struggled to lure back moviegoers who got used to watching new releases on streaming services at home.
2022’s total box office receipts of $7.5 billion were encouraging compared to previous pandemic years, but were still nowhere near the $11.4 billion total gross seen in 2019, according to CNBC. Theater chains are banking on a successful summer blockbuster season this year.
Movie theaters were already up against rough headwinds in New York before the pandemic, as cinemas faced astronomical rents amid a long-term decline in tickets sold. The pandemic only exacerbated those woes, with spots like Regal’s UA Court Street in Cobble Hill and the Cinepolis Chelsea forced to close their doors to moviegoers.
Regal conducted an ill-timed renovation of its Union Square palace in the years just before the pandemic forced theaters to close. The company hoped to draw in customers with a Lavazza espresso bar and innovative new screening technology, such as 4DX — which adds new sensory elements to the theatergoing experience like vibrating seats and scents — and ScreenX, which projects films onto the walls left and right of the screen.
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