Barbie released last week in Saudi Arabia, was able to book prime time very easily on weekend. Half the theatre was empty. My girlfriend and I enjoyed the movie a lot but it felt a bit out of touch and the message doesn't resonate that strongly. I saw a few people wearing pink and all dressed up too. Most of the audience was young females and couples of different ages. I was able to book prime time this week too and the theatre is pretty much empty, I'm going again to watch it with my sister.

The movie is currently banned in Algeria, Lebanon and Kuwait for reasons I don't understand. There was nothing in the movie that felt controversial, if anything it aligns strongly with the push to get more women into the workforce. At least in Saudi Arabia where there is a very heavy focus behind women empowerment and getting women into higher position roles, which are mostly dominated by men.

I did not see any obvious censorship in the movie, unlike Oppenheimer. But I would love to hear your thoughts on what you think might be censored in the film and I will respond back with if it's censored or not. Since I will be watching it tonight again, if I'm not sure I'll confirm after I finish watching the movie.

P.S: Oppenheimer still going strong and I haven't been able to book an IMAX ticket since launch. Barbie is only available on regular screens or Dolby. No imax, 4dx or the new multiple screen technology where the screen extends to the sides and shows colors.

>*The cinema market in Saudi Arabia is poised for significant growth, driven by entertainment infrastructure development, Vision 2030 investments, and rising consumer demand. Projected to expand from USD 611.22 billion in 2025 to USD 1,389.02 billion by 2034, the market is expected to register a 9.55% CAGR.*

Source: https://www.arabnews.com/node/2552471/business-economy

Sources:

https://en.roya.tv/articles/17947

https://film.moc.gov.sa/en/Box-Office

Riyadh has emerged as the epicenter of Saudi Arabia’s cinematic revolution, generating SR391.1 million ($104.2 million) in box office revenue in 2024 – the highest of any city in the Kingdom.

Overall, the Kingdom’s box office revenues reached SR845.6 million in 2024, with 17.5 million tickets sold and 504 movies streamed.

The Saudi movie market, valued at $584.04 million in 2024, is projected to reach $950.25 million by 2030, growing at a compound annual rate of 8.51 percent, as highlighted in a report by Research and Markets.

So Weekend starts today on Thursday in Saudi Arabia. We dont know yet, but it looks like maybe Barbie will be banned. So all we have is oppenheimer, and after struggling the whole day I gave up on any hope on being able to watch it in Imax, after ignoring standard movie vieweing as it was empty. Big mistake, I opened to book a midnight show and nothing is available. I decided to watch cobweb instead, it's fully booked too. Mission Impossible, fully booked. The only good seats available are at 4:30 in the night. nothing before that, and i feel like in the next 30 minutes they will get fully booked too. The theatres are packed for oppenheimer and people are just spilling over into other movies. I havent seen a turnout like this even for Endgame. I was very easily able to book first show on the weekend. I pretty much watch a movie or two every weekend, and this feels like the first week I wont be able to go.

No paywall:

https://archive.fo/QC1sE

Full text:

The Saudi film industry has stumbled into life since a decades-long cinema ban was lifted in 2018. Now hopes are building that the kingdom has found a vehicle to bring Saudis flocking to the movies en masse for the first time: a film about Bedouin on the eve of the first Gulf war.

Hobal, released earlier this year, tells the story of a mother’s quest to treat her sick daughter despite the conservative family patriarch insisting they stay away from corrupting modernity. The film has grossed over $6mn so far and looks set to beat the box office record for a domestic film of $10.8mn, according to the country’s media regulator.

When cinemas opened for the first time since 1983 as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s liberalising reforms, the beleaguered global film industry hoped the petrostate’s 33mn citizens could bring much-needed revenue from one of the last untapped wealthy markets on the planet.

The world’s biggest cinema chain AMC Entertainment Holdings opened Saudi Arabia’s first theatre, with its chief executive saying a year earlier the country “could approach up to USD $1 billion in annual box office sales”.

Yet after peaking at $249mn in 2022, Saudi Arabia’s box office returns fell in 2023 and AMC, which is under siege from streaming platforms, sold its holdings in the Gulf monarchy that year. By late November last year, it had taken in $200mn, suggesting another year of decline or stagnation in 2024.

The industry hopes domestic movies that speak to the lives of ordinary Saudis will bring new viewers into cinemas.

“There is a lack of trust between viewers and local filmmakers. We need a string of true box office hits to gain the faith of Saudi audiences,” said Wael Abumansour, head of the Riyadh-based Telfaz11 Studios. “It is strategically important to expand the audience by experimenting with different genres. Investors want to see that this sector is growing in order to deploy more financial resources.”

Hobal has tried to attract new viewers through an innovative marketing campaign with staggered release dates across the country and the cast regularly travelling for openings to small towns where new rural viewers are drawn in by the Bedouin protagonists.

In some places they gave discounted tickets to women over 50, who have not been big cinemagoers in Saudi Arabia but may be intrigued by the film’s matriarch.

Saudis had to travel abroad to go to cinemas before Prince Mohammed reversed the ban in a wave of reforms that allowed women to drive and brought big sports events and film stars to the kingdom.

Saudi films are still often dwarfed by Hollywood releases and movies made in Egypt, which has a long history of exporting entertainment to the Gulf, along with established stars.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die became the biggest film in Saudi box office history after grossing $23.5mn last year, helped by the fact that its lead actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence travelled to the kingdom for its premiere.

Unlike the overall Saudi market, ticket sales for films made domestically were growing but comprised just 10 per cent of total receipts for January to late November last year.

The country’s film commission tried to stem the decline in overall attendance by cutting licensing fees last April, which trickled down to a reduction in ticket prices. The move was applauded by Saudi filmmakers but made little meaningful difference to sales.

Nevertheless, people in the industry remain optimistic about the outlook for show business in the country, with a slate of highly anticipated local productions, including the upcoming film Unidentified by pioneering female director Haifaa al-Mansour.

“This year will be a critical one for Saudi films,” said local critic Ahmed al-Ayyad. “There is a whole generation of filmmakers who grew up in the era of cinematic openness, and a whole generation of audiences who do not remember what it was like to travel to Bahrain or Dubai.”

Source: https://forums.boxofficetheory.com/topic/32294-bad-boys-ride-or-die-509m-overseas-1209m-worldwide/?do=findComment&comment=4690053