First Cinema Opens in Jeddah

The 12-screen VOX cinema is now open

Posted on

31 January 2019

| Last updated on 31 January 2019

by Rebecca Roberts

VOX Cinema opens in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

This week saw the first cinema to open in Jeddah...

It's been over 35 years since the Kingdom saw a ban on cinemas, and just one year since they finally returned to the country. Now, Jeddah has its own cinema addition that opened this week.

Located at the Red Sea Mall, the first cinema in the Saudia Arabian city is a VOX Cinemas multiplex - and its comes complete with a capacity to seat over 1,400 movie fans and features 12 screens in total... Including Saudi's largest IMAX viewing experience.

According to The National, the cinema plans to bring six new movies each week to the 12-screen venue. This week will see Glass, Mary Poppins Returns, How to Train Your Dragon, Aquaman and On The Basis of Sex to name a few.

The cinema will also offer separate screenings for families and men-only.

رسميًا .. #جدة ثاني المدن السعودية التي تشهد افتتاح صالات السينما بعد العاصمة
#الرياض، والشبكة تتوسع لتشمل كافة مناطق ومدن المملكة تدريجيًا pic.twitter.com/g5gqOyE2GO
— مشاريع السعودية (@SaudiProject) 28 January 2019

The Kingdom expects to have 350 theatres and 2,500 screens by 2030 in an effort to build its entertainment industry, which is projected to contribute a huge $24bn to the economy and add 30,000 more jobs.

Two more cinemas are expected to be opening in Jeddah alone this year.

VOX CEO Cameron Mitchell told The National that the Saudi market is "massive" for the company. "But more than that, it's massive for cinema in the region," he added.

"The entry of Saudi into the market, with that huge audience of around 30 million, makes the Middle East a much bigger player globally. If you look at Australia, with a population of only about 24 million, that’s the world’s ninth biggest market for cinema. Saudi Arabia is 30 million on top of the existing market in the region, 30 million totally new audience members."