In late 2017, a seismic shift began in Saudi Arabia, an ultraconservative and once-insular Kingdom, when it was announced a 35-year ban on public movie theaters would be lifted—and it wanted the world to know it was serious about entertainment. The bold initiative was sparked by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al…

UPDATED, 3:23PM: A deal could close within a week’s time for the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia to acquire a 5% to 10% stake in Endeavor (the holding company for WME) for $400M. The two sides have been in talks for quite some time, as we had previously reported. PREVIOUSLY, Jan. 16, 9:03 AM:  The Public…

Boca Raton, Florida-based exhibitor and dine-in luxury chain iPic Entertainment looks set to be the next group moving into the opening Saudi Arabian market. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding to develop its theater-and-restaurant locations throughout the Kingdom in partnership with Saudi group BAS…

As Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al-Saud moves to diversify the economy and reduce the Kingdom’s dependence on oil, it was revealed today that $64B will be invested in the entertainment sector over the next decade. At a press conference in Riyadh, General Entertainment Authority chief Ahmad bin Aqeel…

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, and Amazon are separately pursuing splashy investments in Saudi Arabia, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. State-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Aramco, is in talks with Alphabet about jointly building a large tech hub inside the Kingdom, the Journal reported, citing…

Billionaire entertainment and technology investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has been released from detention in Saudi Arabia. According to multiple reports, the prince, whose Kingdom Holding company has has held major stakes in Fox, Time Warner, Citigroup, Twitter, Apple, Arab satellite TV networks and more, was freed…

UPDATED, WRITETHRU with AMC and MPAA weigh-in: The National Association of Theatre Owners has offered its praise to Saudi Arabia after the kingdom confirmed today that it would lift a 35-year ban on public cinemas. NATO also revealed that a delegation from the trade group led by President and CEO John Fithian has been…

Saudi Arabia has officially declared that public movie theaters will return to the kingdom for the first time in more than 30 years. The move had been expected. Deadline reported last month that an initiative was afoot to build and open cinemas after being a focus of the Future Investment Initiative conference held in…