Middle East Box Office Is Recovering Faster Than Other Global Regions Largely Due to Saudi Boom

Nick Vivarelli
·3 min read

Theatrical box office returns in the Middle East are recovering faster than most other regions in the world largely thanks to Saudi Arabia’s box office growth and proliferation of screens.

That is the main takeaway of a presentation by research firm Omdia at Dubai’s Meta Cinema Forum, which is the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s top exhibition convention.

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Omdia’s senior analyst Maria Rua Aguete said the total theatrical intake across the Middle East in 2021 recovered to $558 million which – while still lower than pre-pandemic total returns of $743 million – is considerably better than the world’s average box office recovery rate.

While box office in some Middle East territories has bounced back big time, thanks to a young demographic, premium screens, and a savvy balance of Hollywood blockbusters and regional content – such as Egyptian comedies and Korean and Bollywood titles – Saudi Arabia stands as probably the only country on the planet where since the pandemic box office returns have doubled.

Before COVID-19 struck in 2019, the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) held the title as the region’s top market with a total $262 million take, but grosses were down to $140 million in 2021.

By contrast, Saudi Arabia, which in 2019 was worth $112 million, pulled $238 million in box office revenue in 2021, continuing undeterred on its growth trajectory just a few years after removal of the kingdom’s 35-year-old religion-related ban on movie theaters.

Looking ahead, Omdia predicts that Saudi “will now stay out in front” as the top Middle East market as its screens and customer base grow, having already risen from a 15% share to accounting for more than 40% of the Middle East revenue pie.

“Top Gun: Maverick” earlier this year scored more than $20 million at the Saudi box office, making Saudi the Tom Cruise blockbuster’s fourth top-grossing territory in MENA after the U.K., France, and Germany, according to Box Office Mojo data.

By 2024, Omdia estimates there will be 1,400 screens in Saudi, up from a count of fewer than 300 screens in 2020.

That said, Omdia data shows that the U.A.E. – which has a population of 10 million compared with the 35 million inhabitants in Saudi – still has the Middle East’s highest per head box-office spend, at $14, though the kingdom is moving up the “spend per head” ladder, the report said.

Lebanon and Oman are instead at the lower end of the region’s “spend per head” spectrum.

The Middle East’s overall rapid box office recovery is largely due to the growing number of new cinemas built in the region, according to the Omdia report. It quantified the average number of lucrative premium screens per country across the region at about 3.6% and said Saudi leads the way given that nearly 10% of the country’s screens are luxury and large format.

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