Black Panther has already amassed more than $1.2 billion dollars since launching in February and will herald Saudi Arabia’s long-awaited return to the cinema world. This will make it the first film to screen to the public in a cinema following the lifting of the country’s 35-year cinema ban.
The news makes Disney and its regional distribution partner in the Middle East, Italia Film, the first to officially release a movie in the kingdom as it undergoes dramatic reforms.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film will be given a gala premiere on 18 April in Riyadh at the first AMC-branded cinema. The 620-seater theatre is a converted symphony hall in the King Abdullah Financial District and is the first of hundreds of cinemas planned to open in the next decade.
Black Panther is set to play for five days in Riyadh and will be swiftly followed by Avengers: Infinity War, which is being given a day-and-date release on 26 April.
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