Pacific Theaters Exhibition Corporation, which includes Arclight Cinemas, really isn’t due to reopen anytime soon. The exhibition company today issued a statement that it is filing Chapter 7 in order to liquidate its assets for creditors.
We hear that the “assets” to which this bankruptcy relates are the equipment, seats, projectors and popcorn machines like all Arclight and Pacific locations except Arclight Hollywood and Cinerama. Dome that belong to another company. The record also includes the site of Winnetka Pacific Theaters in Chatsworth, California, which Pacific owns.
As previously reported, AMC enters into an agreement to take over multiplex leases from Pacific to The Grove in Los Angeles and The Americana in Glendale, California; both properties owned Caruso. Movie schedule sites began listing AMC Grove and AMC Americana earlier this week; these were quickly removed as Caruso and AMC provided no statement as to what had happened. Still no word on who gets the other leases, especially the Sherman Oaks, which is generally one of the top ten profitable theaters in the United States. AMC CEO Adam Aron has publicly said he’s trying the Arclight properties, but we’ve heard that others are in the mix namely Cinemark, Cinepolis.
AMC nears agreement for Grove and Americana leases for Pacific Theaters
A lot of people in distribution circles believe the Cinerama Dome / Hollywood Arclight will eventually reopen, it’s just a matter of when and this Chapter 7 news only provides more gray clouds as it’s clear the Pacific will not reorganize. We’ll keep you posted with more details as we learn more about bankruptcy.
Here is Pacific’s statement:
After a year of devastating impact from the pandemic, Pacific Theaters Exhibition Corporation announced in April that it would not be reopening its ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theaters locations. After taking steps to liquidate the business, the company is now seeking Chapter 7 protection of the Bankruptcy Code in order to liquidate its remaining assets for the benefit of its creditors.
We are deeply grateful to our employees, guests and the film community for coming together over the past decades to create so many wonderful film experiences. We are overwhelmed by the extraordinary outpouring of memories. Thanks for sharing this with us.
We will all miss you.