A DVD rental is distributed by a Redbox at a 7-Eleven in Los Angeles in 2009. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the owner of Redbox, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday.
Damian Dovarganes/AP
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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 bankruptcy filing comes after months of financial struggles for the company and mounting unpaid bills. Chicken Soup for the Soul has racked up nearly $1 billion in debt, according to the bankruptcy filing Friday in Delaware Bankruptcy Court, after posting loss after loss in recent quarters.
The filing also reveals that Chicken Soup for the Soul owes millions to more than 500 creditors, ranging from big entertainment names like Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. to major retailers like Walgreens and Walmart.
Chicken Soup for the Soul had about $414 million in assets and $970 million in debt as of March 2011, according to filings Friday. Shares of the publicly traded company have fallen more than 90% over the past year.
Contacted Monday by The Associated Press, Chicken Soup for the Soul, a Connecticut-based company, declined to comment on the report. In court documents, the company said its creditors were unwilling to cooperate with the refinancing.
Chicken Soup for the Soul acquired Redbox in 2022. At the time, the company touted the merger as the start of an entertainment conglomerate designed to reach consumers across media and grow revenue, but losses continued to mount. The acquisition also included the assumption of Redbox’s reported $325 million in debt.
Founded in 2002, Redbox is best known for its red self-service machines that sit outside drugstores or grocery stores to rent or sell DVDs. In its filing Friday, Chicken Soup for the Soul said it currently operates about 27,000 kiosks across the U.S., down from 36,000 when it closed its acquisition of Redbox in August 2022.
Chicken Soup for the Soul also offers ad-supported streaming and video-on-demand services, including Redbox Live TV and Crackle, a streaming service that Chicken Soup for the Soul acquired from Sony.
