Britain’s biggest cinema chain confirmed the decision to temporarily close the venues after the new James Bond sequel – No Time to Die – was pushed back until April 2021.

The move will see 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse theatres close in the UK and 536 Regal theatres close in the US from this Thursday 8 October. It will also affect 45,000 employees here and in the States.

In a statement released this morning, Cineworld said this is its response to an “increasingly challenging theatrical landscape and sustained key market closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic”.

Mooky Greidinger, Cineworld’s chief executive, said: “This is not a decision we made lightly, and we did everything in our power to support safe and sustainable re-openings in all of our markets – including meeting, and often exceeding, local health and safety guidelines in our theatres and working constructively with regulators and industry bodies to restore public confidence in our industry.

“Cineworld will continue to monitor the situation closely and will communicate any future plans to resume operations in these markets at the appropriate time, when key markets have more concrete guidance on their reopening status and, in turn, studios are able to bring their pipeline of major releases back to the big screen.”

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YourMoney.com has asked what the move means for Cineworld Unlimited Cinema pass holders. We’ll update this story as soon as we know more.

Shares in Cineworld more than halved to 17p in early morning trading off the back of the announcement.

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the spread of Covid-19 around the world has been a “horror movie” for the industry and the fresh wave of infections is the latest installment in what’s been a devastating story for cinema chains.

Streeter said: “New infection spikes amid warnings that the virus spreads more quickly indoors, is keeping customers away and with no big names to lure them through the doors this winter, Cineworld has reached this difficult decision in a bid to cut costs and preserve cash. With a vaccine still just out of reach, Cineworld won’t put a date on when venues will reopen next year and is now assessing various sources of additional liquidity, including raising cash from shareholders to try and stay afloat.

“The news will increase the clamour for more support for the entertainment, recreation and arts industry which still has 51% of workers on furlough.

“The new jobs support scheme, which will subsidise wages of part time workers will provide no lifeline for the 5,500 Cineworld UK employees who will lose their jobs this week and many others across the industry are facing a bleak winter on jobseekers benefit, while they begin the difficult search for new positions in the run up to Christmas.’’