Shares of Cineworld and AMC Entertainment plunged 36% and 10%, respectively, after the announcement.
Still reckoning with government-mandated theater closures amid the coronavirus pandemic, shares of movie theater chains crashed Monday after United Kingdom-based Cineworld said it’s suspending operations at all of its nearly 700 locations in the U.S. and U.K. following news that a number of high-profile films won’t be released until 2021. Movie theater chains have been reeling domestically since March, when states began to force the closure of nonessential indoor businesses in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus. Both AMC and Regal started opening up U.S. locations in August, but sustained closures in states like New York have kept the movie theater industry scrambling for cash.
