Saudi Arabia to open its first cinema in over 35 years

Riyadh, April 5: Saudi Arabia will open its first cinema in over 35 years on April 18 as part of a deal with the world's biggest cinema chain AMC to open up to 40 theatres in some 15 Saudi cities over the next five years.

The Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information granted on Wednesday the first licence to America's AMC to operate a theatre, the Saudi Gazette reported on Thursday. The first AMC movie theatre will open in Riyadh.

The past year witnessed the start of a huge drive to bring entertainment to Saudi Arabia as part of Vision 2030, an ambitious plan for economic and social reform by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Saudi Minister of Culture and Information Awwad Al-Awwad said: "The opening of cinema theatres will help support the local economy keeping the spending by families within Saudi Arabia in addition to contributing to creating new job opportunities in the Kingdom."