With No New Films, Regal Cinemas Shuts Down Again

For instance, Warner Bros. is postponing releasing the remake of “Dune,” once scheduled for December, until Oct. 1, 2021, according to two people familiar with the studio’s plans who spoke on condition of anonymity because they had not been made public. Warner Bros. declined to comment.

“If the studios continue postponing all their releases, the movie theaters aren’t going to be there for those postponed releases,” John Fithian, chief executive of the National Association of Theatre Owners, said in an interview. “They have to consider whether they want the long-term viability of the theater platform to be available to them. And I think they do since about 80 percent of the movies that were scheduled during our closed period have been postponed for future theatrical release and not taken to the home.”

Mr. Fithian also pointed to the government-mandated closure of theaters in New York State, home to a crucial box office market because of its size and cultural influence, as a major reason that releases were being delayed and chains were suffering financially.

Cinemark, the third largest theater operator in the country, said Monday that it would not shut its theaters. (Of its 332 theaters, 264 are open.) But it did say it would consider reducing the number of days and hours they operate while it “awaits new studio content to encourage theatrical moviegoing.” The smaller theater chain Alamo Drafthouse, which is operating about half of its 41 theaters nationwide, said it intended to remain open.

The other major theater chains — including AMC, which is the largest — did not comment, but the current release schedule does not offer many reasons to remain open in the short term. Disney moved its superhero film “Black Widow” into 2021, along with other releases expected this year, including Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of “West Side Story.”