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SAUDI ARABIA REPORT 2021
May 30, 2021
Blockbuster opportunities Motivate Val Morgan’s Avinash Udeshi examines the post-Covid cinema landscape, and polls cinema chains about their plans to capitalise on Saudi Arabia’s unprecedented potential for growth
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et’s wait till the situation stabilises. Are movies releasing? Is occupancy reduced? No one goes to the cinema… or even ventures out of their homes. Are cinemas even open? Welcome to being a salesperson at Motivate Val Morgan and facing the opening salvos while trying to pitch for cinema advertising currently. Bah! Cinemas across the GCC have already welcomed more than 5 million customers in 2021. The reality is that audiences are continuing to patronise cinema. Content released in cinema has evolved to be more diverse. A country in our portfolio is presently even adding several screens and hosting more admissions than in 2019. It is no secret, though, that with two seats behind, in front and on each side being blocked off to create a safe environment, the movie theatre is visually going to look empty. So here is the story (based on true events) of what unfolded: In March 2020, cinemas shut to curb the spread of the deadly Covid-19 virus. A few months later, cinemas re-opened in select markets, operating at limited occupancy due to social distancing measures, with strict sanitisation protocols in place. Movie studios, however, withheld new blockbuster releases, awaiting the collective reopening of cinemas across the world, thus affecting the content pipeline in markets where cinemas were open for business. The lack of new content and reduced seating capacities had a short-run effect on movie demand and box office revenue. Nevertheless, the industry remained resilient and improvised by re-releasing movies that performed well at the box office in previous years as well as new content such as Minari – a
Korean movie that had six Academy Award nominations and for which actress Youn Yuh-jung secured the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Many other smaller movie titles also found a theatrical window and success at the box office. Cinemas thus gave audiences a reason to return to their beloved large screen and partially circumvented the effect of the
pandemic to ensure a steady revenue for their business. This led to 51 per cent of patrons returning to cinema when compared with 2019. Recently released Godzilla vs Kong has reached a new global benchmark, having already grossed $422m worldwide. It is presently the highest-grossing film in 2021 across 19 markets including the UAE, China, Russia, Spain, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mexico. In combined like-for-like markets, and at today’s rates, Godzilla vs Kong is running 6 per cent above Kong: Skull Island, 44 per cent over Godzilla: The King of Monsters and 90 per cent ahead of Godzilla, and the movie is still to release in 20 more markets including Brazil, Japan and the UK. Another recent release, Mortal Kombat, has already totalled $72m globally. Both Godzilla vs Kong and Mortal Kombat, along with Nobody – an action film starring Bob Odenkirk – have generated over 500,000 admissions in the UAE so far. In Saudi Arabia, Arabic movies rank very high in terms of popularity. Egyptian comedy Waafet Reggala is the biggest box office hit in the history of Saudi Arabia. The film – about four friends who unite for a holiday on the coast of the Red Sea – has done astounding business in the kingdom, bringing in a total of 765,412 admissions for a cumulative box office of SAR 52,625,412 in 12 weeks as of April 15, 2021. The film remains at the No.1 position in the country to date. Having said that, audiences in KSA love cinema in any form. Movies in languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Telegu and Malayalam – the national and regional languages of India – and even Korean movies, along with the Hollywood and Arabic titles – are watched with equal enthusiasm. In Saudi Arabia, cinema exhibitors continued their build with gusto, adding many multiplexes after the lockdown. Weekly admissions in KSA decreased by a mere 11 per cent when compared with 2019. This impressive feat has been achieved in Saudi Arabia as it is the only market across the globe to add cinemas on such a massive scale. As a medium the unique attributes of cinema remain unchanged; it is still the best environment for brands to showcase their ads. If anything, current cinema audiences are more courageous – given their love of being out of their homes – and are those whose incomes have not been that affected due to the pandemic.
