Regal closing south Charlotte movie theater as parent company confronts bankruptcy

It’s time to roll the end credits for a Charlotte movie theater in South Park.

With the last showings of movies like “Halloween Ends” at 8:10 p.m. Sunday, Regal Phillips Place at 6911 Phillips Place Court will permanently close.

“As part of our real estate optimization strategy, Regal has made the decision to close our Regal Phillips Place theater as we continue to position our company for long-term growth,” Regal said in a statement to The Charlotte Observer on Friday. “We are working to support our employees through this transition.”

It’s the second Regal theater to close in Charlotte in as many years.

Regal Manor Twin on Providence Road in Myers Park closed in May 2020 during the pandemic. The 73-year-old theater opened in 1947 and was Charlotte’s full-time art house.

The future of another local Regal theater, this one in Rock Hill, also is up in the air as the company renegotiates scores of property leases.

Phillips Place Shopping Center changes

Regal Phillips Place 10-screen movie theater’s imminent closing isn’t a complete surprise.

Phillips Place Shopping Center is being redeveloped by Lincoln Harris with plans to build a 10-story office and retail tower at the 3.5-acre site, The Charlotte Observer previously reported. City Council approved those plans in April.

However, Regal officials previously told The Charlotte Observer its Phillips Place lease runs through 2025. in 2005, Regal purchased Phillips Place Cinemas, which opened in 1996.

Cineworld bankruptcy

Last month, Regal Cinema’s parent company Cineworld Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

As the second-largest movie theater chain in the world, Cineworld operates 751 theaters, including more than 500 in the U.S. Regal has 16 North Carolina movie theaters, including seven in the Charlotte region.

Regal Phillips Place is listed among 147 movie theaters across the country that Regal is renegotiating leases for, according to documents filed by Cineworld last week in Southern District of Texas bankruptcy court.

Cineworld has said it aims to emerge from bankruptcy early next year, securing $1.9 billion in financing from existing lenders.

Rock Hill Regal theater’s future unclear

Regal Phillips Place isn’t the only Charlotte-area theater under lease negotiations.

Manchester Stadium 14 in Rock Hill also is listed in Cineworld’s court filing. A Cineworld spokesperson did not immediately comment on whether the company might close that theater, too.

The Regal movie theater has been the only York County multi-screen complex after AMC Classic Rock Hill 7 did not reopen during the pandemic as part of a business decision, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.

Other Carolina theaters are High Point, Apex and Asheville in North Carolina and Lexington and Simpsonville in South Carolina.

Other movie theater moves in Charlotte

Regal is not the first theater closing in Charlotte due to bankruptcy following the pandemic.

Studio Movie Grill did not reopen its University City movie and dine-in theater after filing for bankruptcy. The theater had opened only three months before the shutdowns. In March 2020, the Texas-based chain closed its first Charlotte theater at Epicentre in uptown.

Cinergy Dine-In Cinemas, another Texas chain, opened at Studio Movie Grill’s former 5336 Docia Crossing Road space off Interstate 485.

And, Charlotte’s only dedicated art house The Independent Picture House opened in June at 4237 Raleigh St. in NoDa. Charlotte Film Society, a 40-year-old nonprofit dedicated to bringing foreign, classic and independent films to Charlotte, owns the theater.

Regal still has the most local theaters

Regal still has the largest presence in the Charlotte region:

▪ Cinebarre Arboretum at 8008 Providence Road, Charlotte

▪ Starlight-Charlotte at 11240 US Hwy 29, Charlotte

▪ Birkdale at 16950 Birkdale Commons Parkway, Huntersville

▪ Stonecrest at Piper Glen at 7824 Rea Road, Charlotte

▪ Franklin Square at 3778 East Franklin Blvd., Gastonia

This story was originally published October 14, 2022 at 10:26 AM.