How long has it been since you went to the movies? Chances are unless you saw the overwhelming success that was Top Gun: Maverick, then it has probably been a while. Most people recognize that movie theatres have gone down in popularity since the covid pandemic, but the situation might be worse than you think.

On Tuesday, August 23rd, Regal, the world’s second biggest theatre company announced that they have plans for bankruptcy. Along with that, its stock went down 34% in one day. This could be bad news for our local “megaplex” theatre The Warren, as Regal acquired it in 2017. 

Regal is not the only company suffering, as on the same day that Regal announced their plan for bankruptcy, AMC, the leading theatre company stock decreased by 42%. Although AMC has not revealed any plans for bankruptcy, they could very well be on the same path. 

What does this mean for the future? It could mean the closing of many large movie theatres across the country, including our local theatres in Norman. Due to a decline of theatre-released movies of 40% since 2019 and box office sales decreasing by 30% since the beginning of Covid-19, there are simply too many screens and not enough movies to show or people to fill the seats at larger theatres. If this trend continues, perhaps the movie business will shift to smaller theatres, or they will go away altogether in the somewhat near future. With the rise of streaming services and a lack of movie development, there simply is no longer a high demand for theatres.