Redbox Shuts Down After 22 Years of Business as Parent Company Moves for Bankruptcy Liquidation

It’s the end of an era for at-home moviegoers.

According to reports from NBC News, Deadline and The Wall Street Journal, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Redbox’s parent company, converted its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case to a Chapter 7 liquidation proceeding on Wednesday, June 10. This means Redbox, a 22-year-old DVD rental and streaming service, will officially close.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the bankruptcy liquidation will shut down Redbox’s network of 24,000 DVD rental kiosks in nationwide retailers and leave approximately 1,000 employees without jobs. It’s not known when the kiosks will be shuttered.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Thomas Horan approved the company’s request due to there being “no means to continue to pay employees, to pay any bills,” reported The Wall Street Journal.

“Based on allegations we’ve heard, it’s important that a Chapter 7 trustee be appointed and undertake an appropriate investigation of the company,” said Horan, per the outlet, adding that “1,000 people are about to lose their jobs, and they’re not even going to be paid for work that they did.”

PEOPLE has reached out to Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment for comment.

According to Deadline, the announcement comes weeks after Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment filed for bankruptcy protection on June 29 with nearly $1 billion in debt.

It also comes nearly two years after Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment completed its acquisition of Redbox in August 2022.

At the time, William J. Rouhana, Jr., company chairman and chief executive officer of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, said that the purchase would provide his company “immediate scale.”

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“These collective assets create a fully formed streaming business for a new era of digital entertainment that we anticipate will accelerate the growth and profitability of our company well ahead of our original plans,” Rouhana said in 2022. “The team at Redbox is incredible and will join an equally talented team across our Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment companies.”