Major cinema chain with more than 100 UK branches suddenly closes town centre site as film buffs left confused

A MAJOR cinema chain with more than 100 UK branches suddenly closed its town centre site – leaving film buffs confused.

Cineworld in Shaw Ridge, Swindon, cancelled its movie showings and shut its doors without warning.

The cinema first cancelled an evening showing of Wicked two hours before it was due to start on November 23.

And confused customers also noted that other showings of Wicked and Gladiator were also axed.

The next day on November 24, the cinema confirmed it would be closed – without giving any indication of when it might reopen.

It said: “Unfortunately we are remaining closed until further notice, again we do apologise for any inconvenience caused by this. 

“Our customer service team will be in touch regarding refunds. We appreciate your patience while these technical issues are being resolved and will update again when we are back open.”

But it turns out that the popular cinema was simply closed “until further notice” due to Storm Bert.

A spokesperson said: “Cineworld Shaw Ridge Swindon has had to temporarily close due to the impact of Storm Bert. 

“Any customers whose screenings were cancelled will be automatically refunded.

“We apologise for the inconvenience and hope to reopen the cinema soon.”

One film lover wrote: “I’m assuming leaks or a dodgy roof. They could use the time to refurb the seats, maybe take the ones from Regent Circus.”

What else has happened at Cineworld?

Back in October, Cineworld revealed that its sites across Glasgow Parkhead, Bedford, Loughborough, Yate and Swindon Regent Circus will close in just a matter of days.

It forms part of a major restructuring plan to keep the company’s head above water.

Last month, a judge gave the go-ahead for £16million to be injected into Cineworld’s four companies which form the business.

The cash came from the business’s parent company, with an extra £35million to also be made available.

Its four companies. Cine-UK Ltd, Cineworld Cinemas Ltd, Cineworld Cinema Properties Ltd and Cineworld Estates Ltd, will also negotiate leases for each of their 101 sites across the UK.

This development follows a long period of trouble at Cineworld.

Just last year the business emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US.

Filing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy means a company intends to reorganise its debts and assets while remaining in business.

The company’s shares plunged almost 99 per cent in the five years to 2023, as it was hit particularly hard by the pandemic and the enforced closure of its cinema sites.

Shortly after, Cineworld’s UK arm collapsed into administration on July 31.

The cinema chain was de-listed from the London Stock Exchange a day later.

When a company enters administration in the UK, all control is passed to an appointed administrator, who must be a licensed insolvency practitioner.

A lot of major cinema chains have struggled following the pandemic, as customers got used to streaming films from home. 

Big blockbusters such as the Barbie Movie and Oppenheimer drove punters back to the movie theatre last year, but it has not been enough to keep some venues afloat.