It's officially an end of an era in Brunswick, as an iconic theater has shown its last film.

The Regal Cinema has gone through with its planned shutdown, with February 12 having been its last day. This leaves just one Regal Cinema in Maine, located in Augusta.

As reported earlier this year, the Brunswick location is one of at least 51 Regal theaters to have either already closed or planning to close. This includes a theater in Boston, Massachusetts, and Concord, New Hampshire.

It's hardly surprising to see these closures. The movie theater industry has taken one of the largest hits from the Covid pandemic. Even though the dark days have passed, many folks just haven't gone back to the movies. According to Box Office Mojo, gross revenue dropped by 81% in 2020. It did jump back nicely in 2021 and 2022, but is still billions behind what it was pre-pandemic.

The Regal Brunswick seems have just been a victim of circumstance. However, it wasn't the first, and won't be the last. Even with pandemic restrictions gone, the cinema industry is also losing significant market share to streaming services. These services are producing and premiering films constantly, as well as getting the rights for first-run films.

These are murky times for the cinema industry, and the Regal Brunswick closing is a serious and sad example of this. I would strongly suggest supporting your local cinema if you don't want to see them all disappear.

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