Cairo: Takings from ticket sales at Saudi theaters totalled SR657 million in the first nine months of this year, according to the Saudi Film Commission, amid a thriving entertainment industry in the country.
Showings of 52 films in Saudi Arabia grossed SR10.7 million last week, noted the commission's data cited by Al Eqtisadiah newspaper.
Some 222,000 tickets were sold at theatres in the kingdom last week. The US film "Joker: Folie à Deux" stretched its success at the Saudi box office for the second straight week, topping the revenue list with SR3 million to raise its total takings to SR9.1 million.
Ticket sales for films co-produced by Muvi Studios, the production arm of the major cinema chain in Saudi Arabia Muvi Cinemas, have exceeded more than 150,000 tickets, according to an official.
Fouad Al Khatib, the director of artistic production at Muvi Studios, added that they had signed contracts for producing 11 Saudi films over the next two years.
In April 2018, Saudi Arabia reopened cinemas for the first time in nearly four decades as part of dramatic changes.
Over the past six years, the number of theatres in the kingdom has reached 66 cinemas with a total of 618 screens and 63,300 seats across 22 cities, the highest in the Arab region, according to Saudi media.
Saudi Arabia has recently become a magnet for Arab and foreign filmmakers, with events such as the Red Sea International Film Festival, which debuted in December 2021.
In February, Saudi Arabia disclosed a plan to set up an investment fund to support filmmaking in the Arab world.
Head of the state Saudi General Entertainment Authority (GEA) Turki Al Alsheikh said the Big Time Fund will be geared towards upgrading the Arab content in producing, distributing and making films featuring leading actors in the Arab world.
GEA will contribute to the fund as a major sponsor and the Saudi Culture Ministry as a co-sponsor along with a group of specialised entertainment firms, the official said without disclosing its exact capital.
In its first phase, the fund aims to invest in making Saudi, Gulf and other Arab films, Alsheikh said during a visit to Egypt, traditionally dubbed the Hollywood of the Arab world.
