The curtain comes down at Cineworld as it shuts all its cinemas

Cinema chain Cineworld is closing its operations in Britain and America. But this crisis is not due to Covid-19 – it is largely self-induced. Matthew Partridge reports

Cineworld foyer © Cineworld
Shutting up shop will cost 45,000 jobs
(Image credit: © Cineworld)

The show’s over. Cineworld’s (LSE: CINE) share price halved this week after it confirmed that it was closing all of its UK and US cinemas, with the loss of 45,000 jobs, says Dominic Walsh in The Times. It has now fallen by 90% this year. The closures follow the announcement that the new James Bond firm, No Time to Die, has been postponed until Easter. Cineworld claims this shows that studios “are reluctant to release new blockbusters without guarantees of suitable audiences” and without such films audiences will be unwilling to “consider coming back to theatres against the backdrop of Covid-19”.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri