Regal currently operates 375 theaters with a combined 4,219 screens, including facilities in the Orange County communities of Garden Grove, Foothill Ranch and La Habra. It has shuttered 61 theaters since last summer, when years of screen overbuilding prompted a number of consolidations and even bankruptcies throughout the theater industry.

The Tennessee-based chain was purchased about two years ago by buyout specialists Hicks Muse Tate & Furst Inc. and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. A Regal spokesman says no particular theaters have been targeted for closure, but that nearly 70 could be jettisoned across the United States.

Several other theater chains with a large Southern California presence have also run into trouble in recent months. Orange County-based Edwards Theater Circuit Inc. filed for bankruptcy last fall and closed several complexes, including five in the county.

Other theaters that have filed for bankruptcy over the past several months include United Artists Theater Co., GC Cos. (the parent of General Cinemas Theaters Inc.), Silver Cinemas Inc. and Carmike Cinemas Inc.

Regal itself has not filed for bankruptcy protection, but its losses have been widening. In a Securities & Exchange Commission filing last November, the firm disclosed that it has hired Jay Alix & Associates and Houlihan, Lokey, Howard & Zukin to devise restructuring plans that might include asset sales, a recapitalization or a reorganization in bankruptcy court.