Jeremey Gingrich, a logistics supervisor at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, doesn’t just love movies, he loves the communal aspect of going to a theater.
“I love hearing a crowded theater cheer,” he said. “I love walking out of a theater where grown men are crying and they're trying to hide it from total strangers because they were just so moved by a movie."
After months of theater closings due to the pandemic, in September he finally got tickets to see the new Christopher Nolan film “Tenet” at the Regal in Beavercreek. He knew it would be limited seating, but he didn’t expect a private viewing.
“Apparently, the movie theater people didn't know that they sold even the one ticket,” he said. “The movie starts and the lights are still on. So I have to run out of the theater into the lobby and be like, hey, the movie started. Could you turn off the lights?”
Regal said in a statement it would close its doors indefinitely at all of its U.S. locations on October 8, which includes 17 across Ohio. The movie theater chain had just reopened in late August.
But it’s not just low ticket sales affecting the industry. The company cited a lack of new releases as a reason for closing down. Major studios have postponed the release of movies including the new James Bond film “No Time To Die” and the Warner Bros. superhero movie “Wonder Woman 1984.”
Regal said the closures will impact about 40,000 U.S. employees. No layoff notices have been filed with the state of Ohio.
