In 2009, DVDs were rented from Redbox at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Los Angeles.
Damian Dovarganes/AP
hide title
Switch title
Damian Dovarganes/AP
NEW YORK — Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the parent company of DVD rental operator Redbox, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The company filed for bankruptcy protection after months of a series of financial woes and a mountain of unpaid bills. Chapter 11 documents filed Friday in Delaware bankruptcy court show that Chicken Soup for the Soul has racked up nearly $1 billion in debt after reporting losses in recent quarters.
The documents also reveal that Chicken Soup for the Soul owes millions of dollars to more than 500 creditors, ranging from big names in entertainment such as Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. to major retailers such as Walgreens and Walmart.
Chicken Soup for the Soul had about $414 million in assets and $970 million in debt as of March, filings on Friday showed. Last year, the publicly traded company’s share price fell by more than 90%.
Chicken Soup for the Soul in Connecticut declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press on Monday. The company said in court documents that its lenders were unwilling to cooperate with the refinancing.
Chicken Soup for the Soul acquired Redbox in 2022. The acquisition also includes the assumption of $325 million in debt reported by Redbox.
Founded in 2002, Redbox is best known for its red self-service machines that sit outside pharmacies or grocery stores to rent or sell DVDs. In Friday’s filing, Chicken Soup for the Soul noted that the company currently operates about 27,000 kiosks in the United States, down from 36,000 when it completed its acquisition of Redbox in August 2022.
Chicken Soup for the Soul also operates ad-supported streaming and video-on-demand services. These include Redbox Live TV and Crackle, the streaming service Chicken Soup for the Soul acquired from Sony.
