A rental DVD is sold at a Redbox in a 7-Eleven in Los Angeles in 2009. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the owner of Redbox, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy 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 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 a pile of unpaid bills. 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 shows 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 of this year, Friday's filing shows, Chicken Soup for the Soul had about $414 million in assets and $970 million in liabilities. 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 Monday by The Associated Press. The company said in court documents that its lenders were unwilling to help it refinance.
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 increase revenue, but losses continued to mount. The acquisition also came with the assumption that Redbox was reportedly $325 million in debt.
Founded in 2002, Redbox is best known for red self-service machines that sit outside pharmacies and grocery stores to rent or sell DVDs. In its filing Friday, 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 operates ad-supported streaming and video on-demand offerings. Those include Redbox Live TV and Crackle, a streamer that Chicken Soup for the Soul acquired from Sony.
