The show will go on, but it most likely won’t look the same.

The 100-year-old Metropolitan Theatres Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Thursday, a move that could have an impact on theaters in Santa Barbara and Goleta.

“Ideally, there is no change, but depending on what happens, theoretically, there could be some downsizing or change in facilities, but we will see down the line,” Dave Corwin, the president of Metropolitan Theatres Corp., told Noozhawk.

He said The Arlington Theatre and the Metro 4 theater in Santa Barbara won’t be affected.

The company operates those theaters as well as Fiesta 5, Paseo Nuevo Cinemas and Hitchcock Cinema & Public House in Santa Barbara. It also operates the Camino Real Cinemas and Fairview Theatre in Goleta.

According to the bankruptcy court filing, MTC owes about $313,882 to various landlords for its rent obligations. The company pays about $2.6 million annually in rent.

In addition, according to the bankruptcy filing, Metropolitan Theatres is indebted to ATP for $2.1 million and American Riviera Bank for $5.2 million. According to the filing, MTC is not in default on its loans.

The movie theater industry has not yet fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic closure and, lately, competition from straight-to-streaming platforms. So far this year, box office ticket sales nationally are down 20% from the same time a year ago, according to MTC’s bankruptcy filing.

Metropolitan Theatres wants to streamline its operations and potentially shed and/or renegotiate its leases “that would otherwise continue to be a drain on MTC’s business,” the bankruptcy filing states.

“If the Debtor is permitted to work with landlords to renegotiate, or if necessary, reject the leases it intends to workout in this Subchapter V Case, then it could free up significant cash flow that was previously used to pay the rent obligations associated with those leases,” Corwin wrote in a declaration.

Corwin said the pandemic and the uncertainty of the industry have hurt business. In Santa Barbara, the closure of State Street to vehicles also has had a potential impact, he said.

“In view of the likely decrease in box office performance in 2024, which is down 20.1% year-to-date for the industry compared to 2023, the Debtor lacks the liquidity necessary to continue operating in its current footprint without further right-sizing the scope of its business and rejecting or modifying certain above-market leases,” the bankruptcy filing states.

According to the filing, the Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild-American  Federation of Television and Radio Artists strikes “have put a further strain on the theater  industry, leading to forecasts of impaired performance in 2024 and into 2025 as fewer film releases are expected due to production delays.”

The filing also states that “the industry also continues to adjust to evolving theatrical release windows, competition from streaming and other delivery platforms, supply chain delays, inflationary pressures, labor shortages, wage rate pressures and other economic factors.”

Corwin told Noozhawk that Santa Barbara is a unique theater market because it has robust options for moviegoers.

“Most markets that size would have one theater with 14 different screens,” Corwin said. “It is sort of a unique market in that sense.”

In the past couple of years, MTC terminated leases and vacated theaters in Aspen, Colorado, and Hailey, Idaho, and abandoned and/or sold the remaining personal property at those theaters.

The Arlington Theatre won’t see any changes.

“Obviously, the Arlington is a cherished facility,” Corwin said.

The uncertainty around State Street has not helped, he said.

“State Street has been underperforming,” Corwin said. “That has been one of the challenges. I think State Street continues to find its identity. Hopefully we can come together with some kind of hybrid approach.”

Corwin also said that reorganizing the company could lead to greater investment into South Coast theaters. Already, he said, there’s an application into the City of Goleta to upgrade the seating and lobby for the Camino Real Cinemas and put in reclining chairs at the Paseo Nuevo theater.

MTC and its subsidiaries operate 16 theaters and 87 screens in California, Colorado and Utah.