With the second edition of the Saudi Film Confex occurring in Riyadh October 9-12 the Saudi box office and movie-goer numbers in 2024 are down but less so than global averages.
Variety reports that recent Comscore data shows that, thus far in 2024, Saudi Arabia has witnessed a 5% dip in admissions (13,663,012 in 2024 vs. 14,455,179 in 2023) combined with a 13% drop in box office grosses ($174,431,499 in 2024 vs. $245,486,760 in 2023).
By comparison, “Western markets like the U.S. and the U.K. have shown higher dips in 2024 so far, with the U.S. box office down roughly 15%, U.K. down 16% earlier this year, and Germany down 17%.”
“The [Saudi] box office is down this year, but that is very much in line with the rest of the world,” said Comscore analyst Nena Loncar, who noted that elsewhere the drop in moviegoers has been much greater.
One factor in reduced box office grosses is the decision by the Saudi Film Commission in April 2024 to significantly cut cinema operating license fees. This was done with the intention of expanding cinema offerings as well as induce operators to reduce ticket prices. For a full account of the licensing changes introduced by the Film Commission, click here.
In this regard, in May Muvi Cinemas, the homegrown Saudi cinema chain launched in 2019 is the Kingdom’s leader in both screen and box-office share with 205 screens across 21 locations in 10 different cities and fifty more screens scheduled to open in 2024, reduced its starting price $9.07.
According to Broadcast Pro ME: “Saudi Arabia has been considered one of the highest-ranked countries in terms of movie ticket prices globally. However, with this price adjustment, Muvi Cinemas will manage to shift their average ticket prices from the second most expensive globally to the 22nd place, in addition to becoming lower than regional markets such as UAE, Qatar and Kuwait. This is done with the aim of making cinemas more accessible to a wider audience in KSA.”
Local content continues to energize the Saudi cinema scene. Speaking with Variety, Comscore analyst Nena Loncar noted that: “In the last two years, Saudi’s investment in local content has considerably grown. This year, they’ve had 19 local titles, which accounts for 8% of their total box office for the year. Last year, it was only 13 titles and also 8%, but that was the figure for the whole year, so this year’s figure will still grow. In 2022, local titles had only 1% of the overall market.”
In February this year, MEFIC Capital launched the Saudi Film Fund, a $100 million with 40 percent of its funding sourced from the Kingdom’s Cultural Development Fund. Collaborating with Roaa Media Ventures as its technical partner, the Saudi Film Fund will support the Saudi film industry by attracting investment, financing production, and distribution, and promoting local content.
Despite the slower 2024 box office numbers, Saudi Arabia’s film production market has maintained annual growth rate exceeding 25%. It is now the largest consumer market for creative and cinematic content in the Arab world.
