fbpx

Saudi Arabia closes cinemas as part of pandemic safety push

Saudi Arabia to temporarily close all cinemas in the Kingdom…

That’s a wrap (for now)

The Saudi Press Agency has announced that the curtains of the Kingdom’s new set of cinemas will be temporarily closing, until further notice.

It’s part of the country’s proactive pandemic policy, which is in place to ensure safety for all its citizens and residents.

With a high-density of customers in an enclosed space, and multiple public touchpoints, cinemas represent a real risk for coronavirus transmission.

Coming Soon

The restrictions are, of course, just temporary.

Saudi’s blossoming affection for the silver screen will flourish once more in due time.

Back in 2017, as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 initiative, the government set out a plan to achieve construction of 300 movie theaters with over 2,000 screens by the end of the next decade.

It’s a project that’s already well underway…

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by muvi (@muvi_cinemas) on

Seeing stars

The first Saudi cinema of the new era opened its doors in Riyadh on April 18, 2018. The multi-screen AMC theatre made history with an inaugural showing of Marvel Blockbuster, Black Panther.

Wakanda Forever.

Jeddah got its first taste of big-screen action back in August 2019, with a 15 screen cinema launched by homegrown brand, Muvi.

It’s also the first cinema exclusively run by Saudi nationals.

In March this year, Muvi opened its new flagship branch in Riyadh. The 13-screen, 1,400 capacity glistening modern multiplex is equipped with two national firsts: Dolby Cinema and Samsung Onyx screens.

Following the pioneer path of Muvi and AMC, Vox, Empire Cinemas, Kmax and Scitech have also now opened screens in the Kingdom, which will return shortly.

Images: Instagram

YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT