Cinemagic Closes Theaters in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts Permanently

After announcing that their theaters would be closed temporarily until spring, Cinemagic announced today that they will remain closed permanently.

Cinemagic has operated theaters in Westbrook, South Portland and Saco in Maine and Hooksett, Merrimack and Portsmouth in New Hampshire. With the decline in movie theater attendance and production of first run films due to the COVID-19 pandemic, movie theaters have struggled to stay afloat. Movie studios are turning to releasing first run movies on streaming services such as HBO Max and VUDU to get movies out to people at home and keep the cash flowing, a change that cuts movie theaters off at the knees.

It's worth noting that with the closing of Saco Cinemagic, Maine's only IMAX theater is no more.

According to News Center Maine, employees at the Westbrook location were notified by email on February 18 that all Cinemagic theaters would be closing permanently.

This leaves some big movie theaters vacant for good, which makes one wonder if another movie chain may come in to take over the space. The AMC movie theater chain has just managed to avoid bankruptcy and if they can weather the covid storm, maybe they might be interested in setting up shop in Maine and New Hampshire.

So what theaters remain now in Southern Maine? Smitty's Cinema locations, Flagship Cinema locations, Evening Star cinema in Brunswick, Nickelodeon Cinema in Portland, Nordica Theater in Freeport, Magic Lantern theater in Bridgton, Regal in Brunswick and Pride's Corner, Saco and Bridgton drive-in theaters.