Backing local films is key to driving the growth of the Saudi cinema industry, according to Adon Quinn, the CEO of Saudi exhibitor Muvi Cinemas.
Backing local films is key to driving the growth of the Saudi cinema industry, according to Adon Quinn, the CEO of Saudi exhibitor Muvi Cinemas.
Speaking at this month’s Saudi Film Confex, Quinn noted Saudi films so far this year account for an impressive 23% of box office in the country. This is despite local films only representing 4% of the total number of releases in Saudi cinemas.
Last year, Saudi films accounted for 8% of the country’s total box office.
“The growth of this industry is going to be local,” said Quinn, speaking on a panel at Confex.
“The biggest thing that we can do for the overall industry – and what will help with the expansion of the box office and the cinema industry in Saudi – is supporting local content.”
Saudi hits this year include comedy Shabab Al-Bomb 2, the highest-grossing local film to date, grossing $7.3m (SAR 27.2m) from over 603,000 tickets sold, according to the Saudi Film Commission (SFC). It is the second-highest-grossing film of any nationality of the year to date, behind only Lilo & Stitch.
Hobal is the second biggest film, with $6.5m (SAR 24.5m) from over 587,200 tickets sold, while Es’af ranked third with $4.9m (SAR18.5m) from 385,900 tickets.
According to the SFC, the cinema sector in the Kingdom generated revenues of $119.5m (SAR448.1m) during the first half of 2025, with 9.1 million tickets sold across various cities in the Kingdom.
Lilo & Stitch topped the list of highest-grossing films in Saudi cinemas in the first half of the year with box-office revenues of $8.5m (SAR31.8m) followed by Shabab Al-Bomb 2.
Quinn said: “There have been so many examples of Saudi films this year and in the past few years where we see such a high increase in first-time customers. Saudi films tell stories which resonate with people and brings them to the cinema for the first time. That’s where habits will be developed. For us, it’s really about trying to find ways that we can support local filmmakers and to support more films being made.”
Quinn said Muvi Cinemas aims to add 60 screens to its circuit next year, “which will enable more people to buy tickets and enable more returns for filmmakers to be able to make better quality, bigger budgets and more films”.
Muvi Cinemas launched its first cinema in Jeddah in 2019 and now has 23 locations across the Kingdom. It also has a distribution arm and finances films. To date, it has backed four Saudi films and three Egyptian films.
Quinn was speaking on a Saudi Film Confex panel alongside Megabox’s Yong Seok Nam and CJ 4DPLEX’s Jun Bang.
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