Regal Meridian 16 movie theater in downtown Seattle to close, report says

Update 2/10/23: The Regal Meridian 16 may not be closing after all. Management informed employees at Regal Meridian on Jan. 27 that the theater would remain open, according to an employee who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak to media. According to an email sent to staffers, and obtained by The Seattle Times, the theater’s general manager said that the building landlord and the courts have come to an agreement on its lease and the theater will not be closing.

The general manager declined to comment, referring questions to Regal Cinemas’ general media line. A few other Regal Meridian employees approached at the theater this week and last also declined to comment. Regal Cinemas did not respond to multiple requests for comment. At the theater this week, there were postings about upcoming shows going into March.

The building housing the Regal Meridian is owned by Regency Meridian, an LLC tied to the University of California’s investment fund and the New York-based investment firm Clarion Partners. UC Investments did not return requests for comment. Clarion, which said it “owns the building on behalf of a separate account client,” declined to comment.

— Tat Bellamy-Walker and Heidi Groover

From earlier:

A major downtown Seattle movie theater is closing its doors. Business Insider reported Thursday that the Regal Meridian 16, open since the mid-1990s at Seventh Avenue and Pike Street, will soon shut down as one of 39 Regal locations closing nationwide.

Regal’s parent company, Cineworld, filed for bankruptcy in September. It was not immediately clear when the Meridian 16 would cease operations, but Business Insider reported Cineworld would begin rejecting the 39 theaters’ leases Feb. 15.

A Regal Cinemas representative could not be immediately reached for comment.

Regal’s other remaining theaters in the area, including Thornton Place in Seattle, Crossroads in Bellevue and Alderwood in Lynnwood, were not on the list of closures reported by Business Insider. Another Regal theater, Parkway Plaza in Tukwila, closed last fall.

The cinema business has yet to recover from pandemic closures in 2020 and 2021. Last year’s North American box office was $7.5 billion, down from more than $11 billion in 2019, according to Variety.

In downtown Seattle, the AMC Pacific Place 11 movie theater remains open. Nearby, in Belltown, the independently owned Cinerama closed in 2020 and has yet to reopen.

Seattle Times staff reporters Tat Bellamy-Walker and Heidi Groover contributed to the update.