CJ CGV, the country‘s largest cinema chain, is temporarily shutting down four theaters that were severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

A CGV theater in Andong, Gyeonggi Province, decided to close its facility indefinitely from Monday, while a theater located in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, which halted operations at the beginning of the year, will remain closed until Feb. 28.

CGV Chilgok in Daegu and CGV Haeundae in Busan also decided to halt operations from Jan. 1 to 31.

This is not the first time that the local cinema chain giant has temporarily closed down its theaters. In September, CGV decided to halt the operation of its Incheon airport theater. It also suspended the operation of seven more theaters in the following month.

Also, in November and December, three additional CGV theaters were temporarily shut down.

CJ CGV explained that it had to make these decisions as it has been losing money after the number of local moviegoers dropped drastically due to the spread of the coronavirus.

CJ CGV’s sales in the third quarter of 2020 dropped 68.8% compared to the same period last year to 155.2 billion won ($143.4 million).

Meanwhile, CJ CGV in October announced that it has decided to reduce the number of theaters directly run by the company across the country by 35-40 from the current 119 over the next three years. The plan was announced as part of its restructuring plan.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)