DOUGH TIME TO DIE
Cineworld ‘set to close all 127 of its theatres’ after new Bond film No Time to Die was delayed until April
CINEWORLD is set to shut all 127 of its theatres in the UK and Ireland after Covid caused the last James Bond film to be pushed back until spring.
The delay until April, announced on Friday, has plunged cinemas into financial crisis - costing top chains up to £50million.
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Cineworld is believed to be “on the brink” after shares dropped by 2.5 per cent.
It had already lost £1.3billion globally due to the virus and cut entry to £4 to coax back punters.
According to the the chain is drawing up plans to close all its UK sites as early as this week, putting 5,500 jobs at risk.
Phil Clapp, boss of the UK Cinema Association, warned: “It is a possibility some cinemas will close for good.”
The majority of the chain’s staff will be asked to accept redundancy, with possible incentives to rejoin the company when theatres reopen.
Staff have been furious and devastated to learn about the potential job losses over Twitter.
Sean tweeted: "Been with Cineworld for 12 years, to find out I've not got a job via Twitter; once again; is damn appalling #NoTimeToDie."
And Sara said: "I swear to god if Cineworld is f**king closing and I’ve found out my job is at risk via Twitter at 2am I am going to riot!"
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Cineworld said in a statement: ";We can confirm we are considering the temporary closure of our UK and US cinemas, but a final decision has not yet been reached.
"Once a decision has been made we will update all staff and customers as soon as we can."
Cineworld has written to PM Boris Johnson and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden to say that the industry has become “un-viable” because of the postponement of this year’s biggest blockbuster.
No Time to Die — starring Daniel Craig and co-written by Killing Eve’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge — was hoped to match the success of the 2015 Bond movie Spectre, which made £80million at UK box offices.
In 2012 Bond movie Skyfall raked in a record £103million here.
Jane Crowther, editor of Total Film, told The Sun on Sunday: “I’m massively surprised by this decision.
“It’s a disaster for UK cinemas and it will cost them, conservatively £50million in the short run. They’ll hope to make the money back next April but who knows how many cinemas will still be open then to show it?”
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A source said: “Cineworld were very hopeful the Bond movie would be their saviour in these difficult times. Bosses will be very worried about the firm’s future.”
Cinemas had experienced a much-needed shot in the arm in August when Christopher Nolan’s action thriller Tenet took £5.4million in the UK in its first weekend.
The film was the first big blockbuster to be released since theatres were shut in March.
Other big releases such as Top Gun 2 and Black Widow have been postponed until next year.
Disney has decided to stream Mulan and Artemis Fowl into homes rather than put them in cinemas.
No Time to Die, the 25th Bond film, had already been put back once with producers desperate to recoup the record £200million it cost to make.
A second global advertising campaign, worth £100million alone, was already well under way while promotional campaigns and product placement deals had been launched with sponsors including Heineken, Bollinger, Aston Martin and Nokia.
The film’s official podcast aired on Wednesday and the video for Billie Eilish’s title song was released on Friday.
'SIGNIFICANT LOSSES'
Cinemas were planning to leave the film running for weeks, and it was assumed that since major markets such as China were open, no more delays would be needed.
Cineworld said it had reopened 561 out of 778 sites worldwide as lockdown restrictions have been eased.
Leading film lawyer Nick Miller said: “Clearly, it’s a huge problem for cinemas in the short term as Bond joins the list of other event films postponed until 2021.
“The decision to postpone further is easy to understand with further lockdowns and restrictions in place or imminent in the UK and other key international markets.
“The losses are significant and how many cinemas, particularly the independents, will be able to survive without revenue from Bond and other event films this year?”
A spokesman for Cineworld declined to comment.
Meanwhile Bond’s favourite casino is facing the axe after bank chiefs threatened to close its account.
Government-owned RBS has told eight historic London venues it will stop cashing cheques from mega-rich foreign gamblers at the end of the year.
It will be “catastrophic” for Les Ambassadeurs, the Mayfair casino featured in the 007 movie Dr No.
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The owners have appealed to Chancellor Rishi Sunak to intervene.
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Under the Gambling Act, cheques are the only realistic way high rollers can pay to play, as casinos are not allowed to offer advances.
Between them the eight employ 1,350 staff, pay £150million a year in tax and pull in at least another £120million in tourism spend.
No time for films to die
By Dulcie Pearce, Sun Film Critic
James Bond has assassinated another victim: Cinema.
But it has not been a clean 007 kill. It has been done in a drawn-out and torturous way.
He gave cinema, and the thousands of people that work in it, hope during this crisis.
Now, having pushed back the release date for a second time, will there even be enough working big screens to show No Time To Die in April 2021?
I urge you to get along and support your local screen.
James Bond's No Time To Die music video with Billie Eilish revealed
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