Vue makes an agreement on Saudi cinema after Khashoggi's death | Business

Vue, one of the world's largest cinema operators, has suspended plans to open dozens of cinemas in Saudi Arabia following the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

In February, Britain-based Vue International signed an exclusive Memorandum of Understanding with the real estate group Abdulmohsin al-Hokair to jointly build 30 movie theaters.

This agreement was considered revolutionary, intervening just months after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman lifted the ban on cinemas in Saudi Arabia for 35 years.

According to the agreement, Vue, the largest operator of films outside the United States and among the top five in the world, would be one of the first to open cinemas in the country since the lifting of the film. Ban in December 2017.

"We have fallen behind, but we have not come out," said Tim Richards, managing director and founder of Vue, at The Guardian. "We look like a lot of big companies around the world. we monitor and share the concerns of others. All this happened very quickly. We want to see what will happen in the next few weeks and we do not want to make instinctive reactions. "

Mr Richards announced that he would no longer participate in a major economic forum in Saudi Arabia, dubbed "Davos in the desert", and that he no longer has planned trip to the country. actual hour.

The kingdom has also reached a similar deal with US film operator AMC and the Saudi public investment fund, announced in December.

The position of the AMC is not known. AMC hopes to open 40 movie theaters in the next five years.

Last week, Endeavor, the media and entertainment group founded by Ari Emanuel, the Hollywood agent behind the character of Jeremy Piven in the successful TV series Entourage, was trying to end an investment $ 400 million (Saudi Arabia). Arabia after the death of Khashoggi.

In December, the Saudi government said it would open 300 movie theaters with more than 2,000 screens by 2030. Saudi Arabia banned movie theaters in the 1980s, citing a possible threat to the cinema. Religious and cultural identity.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman lifted the ban as part of his ambitious Vision 2030 plan to boost economic growth beyond oil dependence and bring about cultural change. .

However, Saudi cinemas would hardly resemble the common experience Western moviegoers would be used to, with separate viewing areas for women with one family and single men.

Saudi Arabia has estimated that the development of a film industry could yield more than 90 billion riyals (18 million pounds sterling) to the economy and create 30,000 jobs.

In December, the first films aired in Saudi Arabia following the lifting of the ban were a double bill from The Emoji Movie and Captain Underpants, using a projector in a state-run cultural center. The first movie to be shown in a movie theater was Black Panther, Hollywood's blockbuster, in April.

Monday, Vue, chaired by Adam Crozier, former boss of ITV and Royal Mail, made the biggest acquisition of its history in 15 years with a contract of 222 million euros for the acquisition from the largest German film channel, CineStar.