Arclight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres Calls It a Day

I do love the movies and have done some movie reviews on this blog such as John Wayne's The Searchers. Just as theaters in Los Angeles were starting to open up (I personally wasn't planning on going to a movie theater until I got my vaccination shots) the Los Angeles Times (Apr 12) brought some bad news about the Los Angeles movie going experience. The owners of the Arclight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres have decided to not reopen and left this message behind:

“After shutting our doors more than a year ago, today we must share the difficult and sad news that Pacific will not be reopening its ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres locations. This was not the outcome anyone wanted, but despite a huge effort that exhausted all potential options, the company does not have a viable way forward.”

The LA Times reports:

Although it is not clear what ultimately forced Pacific and ArcLight to throw in the towel, the economic pressures have been especially tough on smaller regional chains. 

. . . Arclight and Pacific theaters served as anchors to some of the region’s most upscale shopping centers, including Santa Monica Place in Santa Monica, the Grove in Los Angeles, Americana at Brand in Glendale and Paseo Colorado in Pasadena. Their landlords will be hard pressed to find other types of tenants to fill those empty spaces that would attract as many visitors as theaters do. Cinemas are coveted by shopping center owners because people who go to movies often shop or dine elsewhere in the mall.

Honestly, I have to believe that the landlords won't be as "hard pressed" as the LA Times writes. I would think the landlords were already in talks with AMC, Regal Cinemas and Cinemark about leasing out various locations. Perhaps knowing this, the landlords decided to play hardball with Decurion (the parent company).

Deadline (Apr 12) took a more positive spin for Arclight and Pacific:

Behind the scenes, what I hear that’s technically happening is that Decurion has handed the keys back to the landlords on all their Arclight and Pacific properties. That doesn’t mean the chain is bankrupt — rather, it is part of a thick lease negotiation. What happens in this instance is that the landlord decides which keys to keep and which they’d like to return to the exhibitor. No word yet that the chain is up for sale; I think it’s waiting to see what leases it gets back. Many of the Arclight venues the chain doesn’t own, and it’s those, I’m told, where the company is really down on its leases.

Not boding well for Arclight and Pacific’s reopening is that we also hear the chain gave notice to its theatrical staff.

That's a positive spin and if true, perhaps Decurion is actually playing hardball with their landlords with the anticipation that the landlords won't be able to get an AMC (or other chain) into enough locations and so they'll be able to relaunch at a latter point, but at a smaller theater count. 

I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I just can't see these prime locations being shut down for long.