Saudi cinema to reopen with Black Panther

Riyadh : Saudi Arabia’s first cinema in more than 35 years will open on 18 April, showing the action movie Black Panther.

It is part of a deal done with the world’s biggest cinema chain, AMC, to open up to 40 cinemas in some 15 Saudi cities over the next five years.

The past year has seen the start of a huge drive to bring entertainment to Saudi Arabia as part of Vision 2030.

That is the ambitious plan for economic and social reform by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The kingdom had cinemas in the 1970s, but they were closed at the behest of hardline Islamic clerics.

Both Saudi authorities and cinema operators believe there is a huge untapped market that could generate up to $1bn (£710m) in annual ticket sales through some 350 theatres by 2030.

Vision 2030 is intended to help divert the Saudi economy from its dependence on oil, provide new jobs and give Saudis a reason to spend their money at home rather than abroad.

The first screen to open will be in the King Abdullah Financial District of the capital, and a source told Reuters news agency the first film shown would be Marvel superhero blockbuster Black Panther. 

Vox Cinemas and Novo Cinemas, both based in the United Arab Emirates, are interested in expanding across the border into the new, potentially much bigger, Saudi market. The UAE chains already cater to the region by subtitling movies in Arabic and removing scenes of a sexual nature.

Saudi movie fans already got a taste of Tinseltown in January, when a film festival in Jeddah screened “The Emoji Movie” and “Captain Underpants.”