Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the parent of Redbox DVD rental kiosks, filed for bankruptcy protection Friday. It owes nearly $1 billion to more than 500 creditors.

The company, which owns several streaming services and a video on demand service, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware and replaced CEO Bill Rouhana with Bart Schwartz.

Bankruptcy court filings from Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment show that the company has more than $414 million in assets but just over $970 million in liabilities owed to over 500 creditors, including Universal Studios, Sony Pictures, BBC Studios, Walgreens, Walmart, Warner Bros and Paramount.

The company dissolved its board of directors on June 11, according to Variety.

Redbox, founded in 2002, was acquired by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment in 2022. At the time, it had 36,000 kiosks, according to The Associated Press. 

The company said only 27,000 Redbox kiosks remain.

The company is a subsidiary of Chicken Soup for the Soul LLC, which publishes the famous book series and produces pet food.

Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment had 836 full-time employees and 197 part-timers as of Friday. Those employees are owed about $3.52 million in unpaid wages, $2.24 million in health and welfare benefits and $594,204 toward 401(k) plans, according to Variety.

The newest wrinkle with Redbox is the latest sign of the decline of DVDs. Best Buy stopped selling the movie discs this year, while streaming giant Netflix stopped shipping DVDs to customers last fall.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.