Thousands of jobs at risk as Cineworld set to close all UK sites

Cinema chain Cineworld is set to close its UK sites in the coming weeks. The closures come as the release of the latest James Bond film was further delayed from November to spring 2021, the PA news agency understands.

“Unviable”

As first reported in the Sunday Times, bosses will write to prime minister Boris Johnson and culture secretary Oliver Dowden. They will reportedly tell the prime minister and culture secretary that cinema has become “unviable” as studios keep delaying blockbuster releases.

The closure of its 128 sites across the country will put up to 5,500 jobs at risk.

In July, the government promised a package of more than £1.5bn to help the arts and culture industries forced to shut down earlier this year as a result of the pandemic. Cineworld reopened most of its cinemas in July when lockdown measures were eased across the country.

No Time to Die

Daniel Craig’s final outing as spy James Bond will not hit big screens until April 2021, it was announced on 2 October. No Time To Die was originally scheduled for release in April 2020, but was first pushed back to November as a result of the pandemic.

A statement on the film’s official Twitter account said:

We understand the delay will be disappointing to our fans but we now look forward to sharing NO TIME TO DIE next year.

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. pic.twitter.com/NqHlU24Ho3

— James Bond (@007) October 2, 2020