Cinemex Holdings USA, the owner of CMX Cinemas movie theaters, filed for bankruptcy for the second time since 2020 as pressures mount against movie theater operators across the country.

The cinema chain has estimated assets of between $100K and $500K, with less than $50K in estimated liabilities, Bloomberg reported. The chain has reportedly considered selling assets or closing locations since early April, including dine-in theaters and IMAX locations.

As a part of its bankruptcy proceedings, CMX aims to reduce its obligations, strengthen its balance sheet and restructure its business, it said in a press release. During the restructuring process, CMX expects to operate its business and cinemas “without interruption.”

The company currently anticipates emerging from bankruptcy during the first part of the third quarter. When CMX last filed for Chapter 11 at the beginning of the pandemic, it had more than $100M of debt.

The movie theater industry has taken a collective beating since the start of the pandemic.

Since 2020, market leader AMC closed 192 venues and opened just 62, a net reduction of 130 locations. Regal Cinemas has closed about 40 locations.

The number of total screens in the U.S. has decreased by about 5,691, or almost 14%, since 2019. In 2024, revenue from box office ticket sales came in 23.5% below prepandemic averages, David A. Gross, who runs the FranchiseRe movie consultancy, told Bisnow earlier this year.

To combat the dropoff in movie-goers, operators are betting big on pricey upgrades to some theaters. The eight largest theater chains in the United States and Canada announced plans last September to invest more than $2.2B to add new bells and whistles to theaters of all sizes over three years.

Miami-based CMX also aimed to appeal to consumers in search of “a new era of luxury movie-going experiences” when it launched its first dine-in venue in 2017, according to a press release. Upgrades included reclining leather seats and chefs cooking made-to-order meals delivered in the theater.

Such investments will ultimately need to convince people to get off the couch and go to the theater to be successful, retail consultant Kate Newlin said in April.

“They're swimming upstream against a current of consumer behavior that says I’d really rather not go out,” Newlin said.