MIAMI — Cinemex Holdings USA Inc., parent company of CMX Cinemas, CineBistro and Cobb Theatres, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Miami-based company operates 41 movie theaters that have been temporarily closed since mid-March amid the outbreak of COVID-19.
In a written statement, an undisclosed Cinemex Holdings USA spokesman said the Chapter 11 filing will help protect the company’s business viability and employees if and when the company’s movie theaters reopen. The spokesperson said that it’s impossible to forecast if and when ticket sales would ever reach pre-crisis levels.
In the state of Georgia, movie theaters were allowed to reopen on Monday, April 27, and movie theaters in Texas can open at limited capacity on Friday, May 1.
The spokesperson said that during its “total suspension of business” that landlords and creditors have proven unwilling to work out temporary solutions in terms of rent relief or repayment of debt obligations.
The company spokesperson also said that the bankruptcy is a result of an uneven playing field as movie studios typically collect 60 percent of every ticket sold. The person said an equitable long-term “rebalancing” for movie theater operators would be for movie studios to cut their maximum revenue from ticket sales to 40 percent and for mall landlords to reevaluate lease terms with movie theaters.
In the filing, Cinemex lists both its assets and liabilities in the $100 million to $500 million range.
Cinemex Holdings USA and its affiliate Cinemex USA Real Estate Holdings Inc. are both filing for Chapter 11, but the company that oversees both of them — Mexico-based Cinemex — is not.
Cinemex Holdings USA, which is the eighth-largest movie theater chain in the country, announced in mid-March its intention of purchasing Star Cinema Grill, a movie theater operator based in Houston. The company operates 10 movie theaters and has another under development in The Woodlands, Texas. According to multiple media outlets, the CMX-Star Cinema deal has fallen through and the latter recently filed a lawsuit against Cinemex Holdings related to the failed acquisition.
— John Nelson