Saudi Arabia’s first new cinema in decades to open in April

Saudi Arabia’s first cinema in more than 35 years will open on April 18 in Riyadh, the capital, the authorities said on Wednesday after agreeing with AMC Entertainment Holdings to open up to 40 theatres over the next five years.

Movie theatres will not be segregated by gender like most other public places in the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom, and the first screening will be Marvel’s superhero movie “Black Panther,” a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Saudi Arabia had some cinemas in the 1970s but its powerful clerics closed them, reflecting rising Islamist influence throughout the Arab region at the time.

In 2017, the government said it would lift the ban as part of ambitious economic and social reforms pushed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He is currently touring the United States seeking investments to help broaden the economy and lessen its dependence on oil.

Read: Saudi issues cinema regulation as first venues prepare to open

Saudi Arabians are avid consumers of Western media and culture. Despite the cinema ban, Hollywood films and recent television series are widely watched at home and discussed.

AMC’s first cinema will be located in the King Abdullah Financial District in a building originally intended to be a symphony concert hall, AMC chief executive Adam Aron said in an interview. The main theatre will have about 500 leather seats, orchestra and balcony levels and marble bathrooms, he said. Three more screens will be added by mid-summer.

Read: Saudi sovereign fund plans cinema venture

“We think it’s going to be the prettiest movie theatre in the world,” Aron said. “It’s a dramatic building.”

The company will face competition from local operator UAE malls and retail group Majid Al Futtaim (MAF). The firm’s cinema unit said last week it planned to open 300 theatres in Saudi Arabia over the next five years.

“We have around 300 screens [in the Middle East region] at the moment, without Saudi we will at least reach 600 by 2020,” VOX Cinemas CEO Cameron Mitchell told Reuters publication Zawya. “With Saudi, we expect by 2021, we could be in the 1,000-screen range.”

He added: “We anticipate at least 300 screens in three to five years in Saudi Arabia.”

MAF is currently building a 10,000sqm entertainment facility in the kingdom after announcing plans to invest $3.73bn in two malls in February 2016 including the country’s largest shopping centre.

Read: Majid Al Futtaim announces plans for Saudi Arabia’s largest mall

To serve a population of more than 32 million, most of whom are under the age of 30, Saudi Arabia wants to set up around 350 cinemas with over 2,500 screens by 2030, which it hopes will attract nearly $1bn in annual ticket sales.

“The restoration of cinemas will … help boost the local economy by increasing household spending on entertainment while supporting job creation in the Kingdom,” Culture and Information Minister Awwad Alawwad said in a statement.

AMC is partnering with the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s main sovereign wealth fund.

A handful of other theatre operators are ready to build in Saudi Arabia if they win clearance, John Fithian, president of the US-based National Association of Theatre Owners, told reporters.

Fithian said he met government officials in Riyadh in December to work out issues such as what type of material would be permitted on movie screens. He said he believes most Hollywood movies will be allowed, though some will require editing.

AMC’s Aron said he expects the same versions of films shown in Dubai or Kuwait will be suitable for Saudi Arabia. “Hollywood has long ago dealt with the sensitivities of the Middle East and have adjusted film product accordingly,” he said. “Major Hollywood studios are showing films all over the Middle East.”

Read: Nearly 7 in 10 Saudis plan to visit cinemas

Separately, Six Flags Entertainment said it planned to develop a theme park in Riyadh with PIF. Cirque du Soleil will stage its first performance in the country on September 23, according to a statement from the General Entertainment Authority.

The GEA also said it reached a deal for other live shows such as “Disney on Ice.”

With contributions from Reuters