In recent years, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has witnessed radical transformations across various sectors, and cinema has had a significant share of this change. After decades of absence, the big screen reclaimed its natural place in the cultural and social landscape in 2018, when the authorities lifted the ban on movie theaters.
This decision was not merely an entertainment step, but a turning point in the structure of the creative economy and a clear message about the Kingdom’s openness to cultural and artistic industries as an essential pillar of Vision 2030.
The relaunch of cinema was not limited to opening theaters and reaching the milestone of 100 Saudi films today; it was tied to building a complete infrastructure—from regulatory bodies such as the "Film Commission," to launching support and financing initiatives, and major film festivals, most notably the "Red Sea International Film Festival" alongside the Saudi Film Festival (held since 2008 and more focused on tracking and supporting Saudi works). Together, these elements have created a fertile environment for the growth of a promising Saudi film industry seeking to move from the stage of individual amateur efforts to institutional professionalism.

Financing is one of the major challenges for any film industry, and Saudi Arabia has addressed this file through multiple tracks to establish a sector capable of competing regionally and globally. Initiatives have stood out such as the Red Sea Film Fund, the Film Commission’s "Daw" (Light) initiative, "Film AlUla," and "NEOM," in addition to the Cultural Development Fund, which allocated budgets to support film projects and offered financial and tax incentives for foreign productions. Private platforms such as Shahid, Netflix, and MBC Studios have also joined the financing landscape, making the Saudi market more dynamic and diverse.

In 2023, the Cultural Development Fund launched the Film Sector Financing Program under the "IGNITE" initiative, with a budget of $234 million to support local productions. This came within a broader $1.1 billion package to boost the content industry and digital infrastructure, reflecting the desire to build an integrated cinematic environment. Subsequently, in February 2024, the Saudi Film Fund was established with capital of $100 million, with a 40% contribution from the Cultural Development Fund—the first investment initiative dedicated entirely to supporting films and series locally and globally.

In December 2024, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Cultural Development Fund and the Red Sea Film Foundation for co-financing, aiming to enhance complementarity among national institutions. The Red Sea Fund also announced expanding its support to include Asian projects starting in 2025, after successfully supporting more than 250 Arab and African films since its inception, with an annual budget reaching $14 million. These steps have helped make the Kingdom a key player in film financing at the regional level.

For its part, the Film Commission has since 2021 launched programs for direct support of young creatives and funds for short and feature films. These programs have not been limited to narrative features but have also included documentaries and animated series, providing wider space for experimentation and creativity. This has helped a new generation of directors who found in institutional support an opportunity to present their work to audiences. As for investment incentives, Saudi Arabia has offered a cash rebate of up to 40% of costs for productions shot locally that hire Saudi crews. This feature has attracted regional and international production companies, with results visible in works such as Desert Warrior and Cherry, making the Kingdom a preferred option for major productions seeking new filming locations.

The private sector has also strengthened its presence in this landscape. Companies like Telfaz11 and Aflam Al-Shumaisi participated in financing and producing commercial hits such as Al-Zarfa reflecting the maturation of the local film market. Streaming platforms, particularly Shahid and Netflix, have contributed to funding diverse Saudi content, further expanding the reach of local productions to wider audiences.

Despite these successes, independent cinema still faces clear challenges related to financing—especially for artistic or experimental works that do not guarantee direct commercial returns. This reflects an ongoing tug-of-war between the demands of economic viability and artistic ambitions. Nevertheless, the presence of diverse financing channels and increasing government incentives makes this challenge less severe than in the past. Overall, these initiatives have made the Saudi market more flexible and attractive, whether for young creators or global companies. With continued flows of institutional and private financing and the emergence of long-term partnerships with international studios, Saudi Arabia is moving closer to cementing its position as a regional platform for film. production—capable of combining artistic ambition with economic viability at the same time.

Distribution is the most crucial link in getting films to audiences, and in Saudi Arabia this sector has undergone a radical transformation since commercial screenings were permitted in 2018. Major companies such as Muvi Cinemas and VOX Cinemas entered the market, opening hundreds of screens in major cities like Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam, as well as smaller cities like Hail, Abha, and Qassim. This expansion has provided a full-fledged viewing experience for local audiences and contributed to forming a cohesive film market capable of accommodating both local and foreign productions.

Regarding the market’s reception of foreign films, Saudi Arabia today is one of the fastest-growing markets globally. In some years, box-office revenue growth has exceeded that of the United States, driven by strong demand for global films. Hollywood, for instance, now regards Saudi Arabia as a strategic market in the Middle East, where its films achieve high revenues thanks to broad turnout—especially during holidays and the summer season. In 2025, for example, releases such as Shabab Al-Bomb 2 and the Egyptian film El-Hana Elli Ana Fih—alongside international productions—recorded notable revenue jumps thanks to well-timed releases.

Saudi films, meanwhile, have begun to carve out a foothold at the local box office.
Companies like Muvi have played a prominent role in marketing these works, focusing on the idea of "low-cost cinema" through economically priced screenings. This strategy helped attract broader audience segments, enabling local films to partially compete against high-budget foreign productions.

External distribution poses both a challenge and an opportunity. Some Saudi films have started to screen in Gulf and Arab markets—still limited, but reflecting the potential for local production to become an exportable cultural commodity.

Participation in international festivals often opens doors to distribution in new markets, thereby enhancing the global presence of Saudi cinema. Digital platforms like Shahid and Netflix have also helped shrink the gap, making it possible for a Saudi film to reach millions of viewers worldwide more quickly.

A qualitative step came with last year’s announcement by Saudi Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan regarding the opening of offices to market Saudi films in China, India, and South Korea.

These offices will not be limited to promotion only; they will also open additional markets through dubbing and subtitling Saudi films, allowing them to reach massive audiences in countries that are among the world’s largest film markets.

This eastward orientation reflects in-depth market studies—especially as South Korea, for example, records some of the world’s highest audience attendance rates, while China and India represent enormous markets in terms of population density and demand for films. In addition, this expansion represents a genuine opportunity for production cooperation, potentially opening the door for joint film projects and knowledge exchange between Saudi companies and their Asian counterparts. Saudi filming locations such as AlUla and NEOM will also feature prominently within the promotional strategy, reinforcing the Kingdom’s status as a global filming destination.

Saudi Arabia’s cinema sector is experiencing rapid growth that places it at the forefront of the region’s most active markets. Just a few years after lifting the ban on theatrical screenings, the Kingdom in 2024 achieved a qualitative leap in infrastructure, distribution, and revenues—reflecting a major shift in both societal trends and the creative economy.

The number of theaters rose to about 64 venues encompassing 630 screens across ten main regions in the Kingdom, operated by seven cinema companies including VOX Cinemas, AMC Cinemas and MUVI Cinemas. This spread increased access for local audiences and raised seating capacity to nearly 62,000 seats, which directly impacted sales volume.

Official figures revealed 17.5 million tickets sold in 2024, with an average ticket price of 48.2 Saudi riyals, bringing revenues to around 845.6 million riyals ($225.4 million). These metrics are not merely financial figures; they reflect the audience’s growing passion for cinema and its gradual integration into the core entertainment patterns of Saudi society.

In parallel, market studies showed that the size of the cinema market in the Kingdom reached about $590.3 million in 2024, with expectations to exceed $1.2 billion by 2033 at an annual growth rate of approximately 9.13%. These projections grant investors additional confidence in the sector’s sustainability—both in distribution and by encouraging local production to engage more robustly with the market.
Although the market is still under construction, current indicators confirm that Saudi Arabia has become an attractive environment for global production companies seeking to capitalize on this audience base hungry for cinema.
At the same time, the expansion of theaters opens the door for Saudi filmmakers to present their work on a wider scale, giving the local industry an opportunity to grow and develop alongside global productions.
In August of last year, Saudi cinemas also broke the barrier of two million tickets sold in a single month.

The Kingdom has invested heavily in cinematic infrastructure, with locations such as AlUla and NEOM emerging as global production hubs that attract major international companies thanks to their stunning natural settings and modern facilities. In November 2024, the General Entertainment Authority opened "Al-Husun Big Time" Studios west of Riyadh—among the largest production facilities in the Middle East—housing sound stages, workshops for costume and set design, fully equipped editing suites, and dedicated post-production suites. These studios have been described as a "fortress for content creation," thanks to their ability to facilitate and accelerate production while reducing costs and maintaining world-class standards.

Saudi Arabia also entered a new phase with the launch of JAX Film Studios in Riyadh in 2025, featuring advanced virtual production units using giant Sony screens. This enables virtual-production techniques now used in major Hollywood productions.

In the same vein, the Kingdom continues to invest in building an integrated ecosystem that supports filmmaking from principal photography through post-production services. "Film AlUla" announced a strategic agreement with the global MBS Group—which operates Manhattan Beach Studios in the United States, one of the filming bases for the Avatar series—under which the group will exclusively operate and manage AlUla Studios. This represents MBS’s first operational entry into the Middle East and North Africa, expanding its global footprint across more than 50 production facilities used by major companies like Amazon and Netflix.

AlUla’s facilities include two massive sound stages, each exceeding 25,000 square feet, in addition to outdoor backlots, production-support buildings, and a recording studio that accommodates an orchestra of 32 musicians, along with training and preparation facilities. This partnership is expected to enhance AlUla’s capacity for future expansion and integrate virtual-production and volumetric-capture technologies, placing the studios at the forefront of technological advancement globally.

Project leaders affirm that MBS’s operational expertise will bolster the attraction of large-scale international productions while simultaneously opening the door to building local capabilities through training and the creation of sustainable economic opportunities. Thus, AlUla is transformed from a merely breathtaking natural destination into a global film-production center that combines distinctive geography, modern technologies, and investment incentives—supporting Saudi Arabia’s aspirations to become a major player in the global industry.

In visual effects and animation, Saudi companies such as Manga Productions have played an advanced role through partnerships with Japanese and American studios to develop content that competes on the global stage. The Film Commission also launched the "Filmathon" initiative, targeting the recruitment of technical talents to develop innovative solutions for film production—such as building AI-supported 3D digital sets and using the metaverse as an auxiliary production tool. These initiatives not only support post-production operations, but also pave the way for the birth of a fully integrated Saudi cinematic ecosystem that relies on research and innovation.

Taken together—from world-class studios to innovation initiatives and modern technologies—these projects have made Saudi Arabia a fertile environment that embraces film production and supports post-production services by international standards, opening the door for local and global creators to produce content befitting the cultural and economic. transformation the Kingdom is witnessing under Vision 2030.

Preparing and training cinematic talent in Saudi Arabia is one of the foundational pillars upon which the project of building a strong, regionally and globally competitive industry rests. The film industry is not built solely on infrastructure or financing; it requires deep investment in human capital—something recognized by various Saudi entities that have launched programs and initiatives to train young talent and refine the skills of professionals. The Film Commission plays a pivotal role in this area, having launched the "Film Makers" program, which reached its fourth edition in 2024, opening new avenues for both amateurs and professionals. The program is designed to cover all stages of filmmaking—from concept development and screenwriting to distribution and marketing—through in-person and virtual workshops, masterclasses, and residencies, in partnership with prestigious international universities and institutes. This type of training not only transfers technical knowledge but also gives trainees professional networks and prepares them to engage with both local and global markets according to professional standards.

In addition, Studio Production Training (SPT), supported by the Cultural Development Fund, launched the "Studio" program, described as a strategic step to bridge professional gaps in the Saudi market. The program covers 16 of the most in-demand specialties in the industry—such as cinematography, production design, sound engineering, editing, and color grading—and aims to train no fewer than 200 entry-level trainees, with the goal of forming a generation of qualified professionals for Saudi projects as well as global productions that choose Saudi Arabia as a filming location. This initiative constitutes a first step toward building a local workforce capable of meeting industry needs and offering a competitive alternative to foreign crews.

Efforts extend beyond direct technical training to include expanding investment in specialized fields such as film scoring, visual effects, and sound design—in line with global quality requirements. Collaboration among universities, film festivals, and production companies creates a practical educational environment that translates theoretical knowledge into field experience.

Moreover, Saudi initiatives work to enhance international training partnerships—either by bringing global experts to the Kingdom or by sending Saudi talent abroad for training—ensuring the transfer of expertise and elevating competence to levels that can compete with the world’s major film markets.

It can be said that training and qualification programs have become the cornerstone of the Saudi cinema project: they not only raise individual skills but also contribute to building an integrated system that supplies productions with the necessary talent and increases the Kingdom’s attractiveness as a global filmmaking hub.

Recent years have also seen a growing trend of sending students abroad to study cinema and the audiovisual arts at leading universities and institutes worldwide—a step that reflects the seriousness of investing in human capital as a fundamental pillar of industry development. This trend is not limited to academic education; it also includes training programs and practical workshops that give scholars direct experience with the latest technologies and international standards.

The importance of these scholarships lies in filling skill gaps in the local market; students return with diverse expertise and new visual storytelling methods that enrich the Saudi scene and enhance its global competitiveness. The presence of an academically and professionally qualified generation helps establish a sustainable infrastructure for the industry and gives local directors and producers the capacity to keep pace with the rapid transformations in the world of cinema.

Saudi presence at international film festivals is no longer limited to symbolic participation or merely screening Saudi films on global platforms; it now reflects an influential presence on both the artistic and industrial levels. Recent years have seen prominent Saudi works at major festivals—such as the Egyptian-Saudi film Dhai at Berlin, Hijra by director Shahad Ameen at Venice, and The Unknown by Haifaa Al-Mansour at Toronto—confirming that Saudi cinema is capable of competing and standing in the front ranks globally.

The broader picture, however, shows that Saudi presence extends beyond the screen to encompass support, financing, and co-production. The Red Sea Film Foundation helped finance and support a group of films that participated in the 2025 Cannes Film Festival—such as Sky Without Land, Life After Saham, Aisha Cannot Fly, and Dandelion Odyssey. These works are geographically and artistically diverse, yet they bear a clear Saudi imprint in enabling them to reach the most prestigious cinematic forums. Berlin was likewise supplied with nine films supported by the same fund, one of them in the main competition—reflecting the expanding scope of Saudi influence on the international film scene.

This presence is further reinforced by parallel activities that seek to introduce the world to Saudi cinema and its identity. At the 2025 Venice Film Festival, the Ministry of Culture is hosting the exhibition "Discover Saudi Cinema: The Heritage and Present of Saudi Cinema," presenting nine Saudi short films to international audiences alongside talks and panels on filmmaking in the Kingdom—creating a platform for cultural exchange and knowledge-building. Similarly, the Film Commission’s participation at Cannes includes a comprehensive pavilion showcasing sector developments and investment opportunities and. facilitating meetings with global decision-makers.

Saudi cinema today stands on the threshold of a new phase of expansion and sustainable growth. Infrastructure is advanced, support for young talent is increasing, and international partnerships are on the rise. This development is not limited to production quality or cutting-edge technology; it includes building a complete ecosystem of training and education and world-class studios—making the Kingdom an attractive environment for local and global creativity alike.

What distinguishes Saudi cinema is that it arises from a massive local audience base, giving it a unique opportunity in the Arab world. Saudi audiences have shown a clear desire to follow their country’s works, providing an encouraging economic environment and creating confidence for investors and producers. This advantage may be the primary gateway for Saudi films to spread beyond the Kingdom, as their local success grants them momentum that facilitates their marketing across the Arab world.

Over time, Saudi films will be able to transcend the Kingdom’s borders and reach theaters across the Arab world—much as Egyptian cinema once did—benefiting from robust local production and audience interest, in addition to exposure through festivals and digital platforms. These capabilities give Saudi films the power to compete regionally and globally and to produce content that expresses Saudi culture in its diversity and richness, projecting the Kingdom’s image on the world cinema map.

Accordingly, the future looks promising for Saudi cinema. We can expect the rise of new names in directing, acting, and writing—capable of leaving a distinctive mark and achieving broad cultural impact—in step with earlier experiences in countries like Lebanon and Egypt, and affirming that investment in talent and infrastructure will elevate the industry to unprecedented levels.