CJ CGV shuts last US theater, ending 15-year North American cinema operation

Key facts

• CGV LA closed permanently on September 21, 2025.
• The Buena Park location closed in March 2025 and reopened as 'CGV by Regency Buena Park Cinemas'.
• CGV opened its first US theater in Los Angeles in June 2010 with 3 screens and 600 seats.
• The San Francisco location, opened in September 2021, closed in February 2023.
• CGV has shuttered 12 domestic theaters in 2025 alone.
• The company conducted a second round of voluntary retirement in 2025; 80 employees left in the first round in February.
• North American box office revenue from 4DX and ScreenX reached $55 million in H1 2025, up 47% year-on-year.
• CGV's parent CJ Group is pivoting to technology partnerships with global chains like AMC.

End of an era: CGV pulls out of North America

CJ CGV has closed its last remaining theater in North America, the CGV Los Angeles multiplex, bringing a 15-year venture in the United States to a definitive end. The theater operated its final day on September 21, 2025, after the company announced on its website that it had made the 'difficult decision' to permanently shut the location following 'long deliberation.' The closure follows that of the CGV Buena Park in Orange County, which suspended operations in March 2025 under what some industry observers initially speculated might be a temporary renovation. That theater has since reopened under new management, rebranded as 'CGV by Regency Buena Park Cinemas,' signaling a full exit from direct U.S. operations.

A 15-year footprint erased

CGV first entered the U.S. market in June 2010 with a three-screen, 600-seat theater in Los Angeles. It expanded in January 2017 with the eight-screen, 1,187-seat Buena Park location, and in September 2021 opened a large multiplex in downtown San Francisco featuring 14 screens including premium format auditoriums. But the San Francisco location closed in February 2023 as the pandemic's aftershocks reshaped moviegoing habits. The Buena Park theater followed in March 2025, and now the flagship LA site has shut, leaving CGV with no physical cinema presence in North America.

Strategic pivot to technology licensing

A CGV official told Yonhap News on September 24 that the company has 'reorganized its global business strategy' and is shifting focus from theater expansion to growing its subsidiary CJ 4DPLEX's premium format businesses, ScreenX and 4DX. The official said CGV is 'accelerating global growth through big deals with global theater chains including AMC, the world's largest cinema chain.' This strategic reorientation comes as the domestic South Korean market, where CGV is the leading chain, suffers a prolonged downturn. The company has closed 12 theaters in South Korea in 2025 alone and launched a second round of voluntary retirement, following a first round in February that saw 80 headquarters employees leave with severance packages of at least 100% of monthly base salary depending on tenure.

Revenue growth in premium formats

Despite the theater closures, CGV's technology-focused strategy is showing financial promise. In the first half of 2025, North American box office revenue from 4DX and ScreenX screenings totaled $55 million (approximately 76.2 billion won), a 47% increase compared to the same period in 2024. The company is betting that licensing its proprietary immersive cinema technologies to existing theater chains will generate higher margins and more stable revenue than operating its own venues, especially in a market where streaming platforms and changing consumer habits have eroded traditional cinema attendance.

Cultural bridge and pandemic casualty

For years, CGV's U.S. theaters served as cultural hubs for Korean and Asian-American communities, programming Korean films alongside Hollywood releases and fostering a cross-cultural audience. The company stated on its website that it had 'served as a cultural link' between Korean content and local viewers. But the COVID-19 pandemic dealt a severe blow to the entire cinema industry, accelerating the shift to over-the-top (OTT) platforms and permanently altering audience behavior. CGV's U.S. operations, which were never large enough to achieve economies of scale, could not withstand the prolonged decline in foot traffic and revenue.

Domestic pressures mount

CGV's retreat from North America is mirrored by a painful restructuring at home. The company has closed 12 domestic theaters so far in 2025, with the Paju location shuttering on September 16. The second round of voluntary retirement, currently underway, underscores the severity of the downturn in South Korea's cinema market. the company is cutting costs across the board as it navigates a structural decline in theater attendance. The closures and layoffs are part of a broader effort to stabilize finances while investing in the higher-margin technology business that CGV now sees as its future growth engine.

What comes next for CGV

With its North American theater operations fully wound down, CGV is now a pure technology licensor in the region, partnering with chains like AMC to install ScreenX and 4DX auditoriums. The company's ability to grow this business will depend on its success in signing additional global theater chains and maintaining the 47% revenue growth trajectory seen in the first half of 2025. Domestically, further theater closures and workforce reductions are likely as CGV continues to resize its network. The company's long-term viability may hinge on whether its technology licensing model can generate enough revenue to offset the decline in its core exhibition business, both in South Korea and abroad.

The bottom line

• CJ CGV has exited the North American theater market entirely after closing its last U.S. location in Los Angeles on September 21, 2025.
• The company is pivoting from operating its own cinemas to licensing its 4DX and ScreenX technologies to global chains like AMC.
• North American revenue from premium format screenings rose 47% year-on-year to $55 million in the first half of 2025.
• CGV has closed 12 theaters in South Korea in 2025 and conducted two rounds of voluntary retirement amid a domestic industry slump.
• The Buena Park theater was sold and rebranded as 'CGV by Regency Buena Park Cinemas,' while the San Francisco location had already closed in February 2023.
• The pandemic and the rise of OTT platforms were key factors in the collapse of CGV's U.S. theater business, which had operated since 2010.