REFORM PLAYS OUT IN SAUDI THEATRE
Moviegoers wait to attend an invitation-only screening at the King Abdullah Financial District Theatre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia held a private screening of the Hollywood blockbuster to herald the launch of movie theatres that are set to open to the public next month. —
riyadh — Saudis will soon get to watch a superhero fighting for his kingdom, surrounded by women empowered as warriors as they tackle issues of race and colonialism.
The viewing serves as a test run on the only screen set up so far at the venue, a symphony concert hall hastily retrofitted with a screen to meet the debut date announced two weeks ago.
Walt Disney Co.’s global blockbuster Black Panther opens in the kingdom on Wednesday, the first cinema screening in the country in more than 35 years.
The themes in the movie, set in a fictional land, are notable as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman consolidates his power and tries to persuade the world that he is reshaping his country to be more open and modern.
Despite limited access, the screenings mark another milestone under reforms spearheaded by Prince Mohammed to open up Saudis’ lifestyles and diversify the economy of the world’s top oil exporter. Things are changing. This month, the kingdom held a fashion week event, with a women-only audience, and there have been mixed-gender concerts.
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., controlled by China’s Dalian Wanda, is opening the theatre, bringing an end to a three-decadelong ban on cinemas. AMC and the Development & Investment Entertainment Co., a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s investment fund, plan to open as many as 40 cinemas within five years. By 2030, the kingdom expects to have 350 theatres.
The industry is projected to contribute about $24 billion to the economy and add more than 30,000 permanent jobs.
On Wednesday evening, a select group attended the premiere in the King Abdullah Financial District, a $10 billion, unfinished financial hub in Riyadh, after a gala dinner.
There has been celebration and criticism of the screening on social media. “Praise God that we have arrived at cinema in Saudi Arabia, and no one will mourn the extremists,” Abdulaziz Al Mosa, a former official at the holy city of Makkah grand mosque, said on his verified Twitter account.
The kingdom hasn’t had public cinemas since the early 1980s, when the US box office was dominated by films including “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and the Star Wars movie Return of the Jedi.” After a militant attack in the holy city of Makkah in 1979, most forms of public entertainment were banned and clerics were given more control over schools and social life. Now it’s the turn of Black Panther.”
The Marvel comic tells the story of T’Challa, who fights for control of the kingdom of Wakanda after the death of his father. T’Challa is told he gets to decide “what kind of king” he will be. — Bloomberg