An Anchorage movie theater that boasted the state’s first IMAX screen when it opened in 2010 may be closing soon.
In a bankruptcy court filing this week, Regal Theaters’ parent company is asking its creditors and a federal judge to let the chain break leases and close up shop at dozens of its theaters around the country. That list includes the Regal Cinema Stadium 16, at the Tikahtnu Commons shopping center in Northeast Anchorage.
The proposed date to abandon the lease for that theater is Feb. 15. As of Friday, Regal’s website for its Tikahtnu Commons theater still showed tickets for sale beyond Feb. 15.
Representatives of Regal and the landlord at Tikahtnu Commons could not be reached for comment.
In its bankruptcy filing, Regal’s parent company, Cineworld Group, said it has been “identifying unprofitable, underperforming or otherwise undesirable theater locations in the United States” as part of its bankruptcy plan.
Cineworld announced it was going into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September. The process lets a company continue operating while it works out a plan with creditors and the court to restructure, become profitable and resolve debts.
If the Anchorage theater shutters, that would leave only one IMAX screen in Alaska, the Regal Goldstream Stadium 16 in Fairbanks. That theater’s IMAX screen also went into operation in 2010, shortly after the one in Anchorage.
Jeremy Hsieh covers Anchorage with an emphasis on housing, homelessness, infrastructure and development. Reach him at jhsieh@alaskapublic.org or 907-550-8428. Read more about Jeremy here.
