|
 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.
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 theater will have about 500 leather seats,
orchestra and balcony levels and marble bathrooms, he said.
Three more screens will be added by mid-summer.
"We think it's going to be the prettiest movie theater in the
world," Aron said. "It's a dramatic building."
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 $1 billion 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.
[to top of second column] |
AMC is partnering with the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi
Arabia's main sovereign wealth fund.
A handful of other theater operators are ready to build in Saudi
Arabia if they win clearance, John Fithian, president of the
U.S.-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."
Separately, Six Flags Entertainment <SIX.N> said it planned to
develop a theme park in Riyadh with PIF. Cirque du Soleil will stage
its first performance in the country on Sept. 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."
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles and Stephen Kalin in
Riyadh; Editing by Diane Craft and Leslie Adler)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
