Cineworld CEO: We Are The Grocery Shop 'With No Food To Sell'

Cineworld Group CNWGY is much like the grocery shop "with no food to sell," CEO Mooky Greidinger said on CNBC.

Theater stocks fell Monday after Cineworld and its Regal Entertainment, the second-largest movie theater chain in the U.S., announced it was temporarily closing all of its theaters. Cinemark Holdings, Inc. CNK fell 17%, AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. AMC fell 11% and Cineworld, which owns Regal, fell 50%.

See Also: Lack Of Movies Forces Regal Cinemas To Suspend US Operations

What Greidinger Said: In the latest blow to the theater industry, the release of the highly anticipated James Bond film "No Time To Die" has been postponed once again to April 2021. While far from the first potential Hollywood blockbuster to get postponed, it's more evident now that closing Cineworld's locations is the right business decision.

Most notably, the U.S. is the most important market in the world for the movie industry, the CEO said. Within the U.S., New York and California are the two most important regions. But without both of these markets operating at the same time in some capacity, the movie industry will hesitate to launch new movies.

"To operate the cinemas on the levels we are doing with no new product, it's better for us to wait," he said. "It might be a month, might be two months until the situation is clearer."

Why It's Important: The global movie industry is performing just fine, as evident by "Tenet" that will gross $300 million worldwide, the CEO said. Even during the best of times, $300 million in ticket sales is a difficult goal to achieve.

But in the U.S. the movie didn't see financial success, in part due to New York rules that allow indoor dining and casinos but not movie showings, the CEO said.

"And this is in a way blocking the possibility of releases," he said.

What's Next: Greidinger said he is not aware of a single instance of COVID-19 transmission in Cineworld theaters.

"The cinemas are safe, we need the movies," he said.