NEW YORK — Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the parent company of DVD rental company Redbox, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The bankruptcy filing comes after months of a series of financial problems for the company and unpaid bills piling up. Chicken Soup for the Soul has racked up nearly $1 billion in debt, according to its Chapter 11 filing Friday in Delaware bankruptcy court, after reporting 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 names in the entertainment world like Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. to major retailers like Walgreens and Walmart.
As of March this year, Friday’s filing shows, Chicken Soup for the Soul had about $414 million in assets and $970 million in debt. Shares of the publicly traded company have fallen more than 90% in the past year.
Connecticut-based Chicken Soup for the Soul declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press on Monday. The company said in court documents that its lenders were unwilling to participate in 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 that would reach consumers across media and grow revenue, but losses continued to mount. The acquisition also included the assumption that Redbox had reported $325 million in debt.
Founded in 2002, Redbox is best known for red self-service machines that sit outside pharmacies or supermarkets to rent or sell DVDs. In Friday’s filing, Chicken Soup for the Soul noted that it currently operates about 27,000 kiosks in the U.S. — down from 36,000 when it acquired Redbox in August 2022.
Chicken Soup for the Soul also offers ad-supported streaming and video-on-demand offerings. Those include Redbox Live TV and Crackle, a streamer that acquired Chicken Soup for the Soul from Sony.