Saudi Arabia’s historic re-opening of cinemas three years ago was the start of a major cinema and film boom in the Kingdom, making the Kingdom “the top theatrical market in the Middle East and is turning into a major driver for Arabic film production,” a top Hollywood publication reports.
Variety‘s Nick Vivarelli interviewed a handful of top market analysts for the sector, including David Hancock, an analyst at London-based Omdia, who said that the Kingdom’s new market “has the potential to be ranked among the top 10-15 territories for box office worldwide by 2024.”
“At the moment Saudi is on a different path from the rest of the world,” Hancock said.
According to the report, developing local Saudi and other regional content will be a key driver of the sector in the months and years to come.
The Variety report cites Cameron Mitchell, CEO of top Middle East exhibitor Vox Cinemas, which will be opening roughly 100 new screens in Saudi Arabia, as seeing the kingdom becoming the top film business driver in the region, and is very aware of the need to diversify product offerings and steer toward local titles. “Vox has a very discerning customer base that craves local content and we are dedicated to making it accessible to both audiences in the region and internationally, to avoid over-reliance on Hollywood releases,” he says.
The report also lists out standout titles in Arabic.
