In just a few years, Saudi Arabia has built the most thriving film industry in the Middle East. Last year, the industry’s overall company revenues reached $245 million, up 9% year-on-year. Representatives of the country’s film industry spoke about its rapid development during the session “Moscow — Saudi Arabia: A Film Bridge to the Middle East” at the Third Moscow International Film Week.
The session moderator, international distribution and co-production expert Katerina Pshenitsyna, recalled that cinema had been banned in Saudi Arabia for almost 40 years, with the country’s first movie theater opening only in 2018.
Film production in Saudi Arabia has grown rapidly in a relatively short period of time. According to Raghad Korayem, Head of Sales and Exhibition at the Red Sea Film Foundation, the number of films released last year reached 538, up 7%, while the number of tickets sold rose to 18.8 million, also up 7%. The largest share of revenue came from the capital, Riyadh, with $115.8 million, followed by Mecca with $64.5 million and the Eastern Province with $38.2 million.
In 2025, the top three films at the Saudi box office were Al-Zarfa, which grossed 30.7 million Saudi riyals, Shabab Al-Bomb 2 with 27.2 million Saudi riyals, and Hobal with 24.6 million Saudi riyals.
She also said that Saudi Arabia had produced one of the most ambitious Arab film projects of recent years — The Seven Dogs.
The country has also created the streaming platform MBC Shahid, which currently has a 22% market share in the MENA region and is ahead of Netflix. Revenue of MBC Group, which owns the platform, reached $1.4 billion in 2025.
“We feel lucky to be in this region at this time. The industry is growing very quickly, and its landscape is changing rapidly. We could not have done this alone. We work closely with partners from other countries, including Russia. Just five years ago, there was only one old studio in the country, and now there are nine huge studios and several other smaller ones,” said Firas Dehni, Director of Physical Production for Scripted Series and Films at MBC Studios.
The Third Moscow International Film Week took place from August 24 to 30 across the venues of the Moscow film cluster, including the Moskino film factory and Moskino film park, as well as in city cultural spaces, Moscow parks and other locations. The program included business sessions, international meetings, film screenings, creative talks, autograph sessions and the annual Cinema Night event. Moscow International Film Week also hosted a screening of Desert Warrior, the most expensive feature film shot in Saudi Arabia.
