Sharp recovery to see Middle East box office revenue cross $800m in 2021

Box office revenue in the Middle East made the fastest recovery in the world, from $250 million in 2020 to over $800 million it is set to cross this year.
The revenue is expected to continue to rise, reaching $1 billion in 2022 and $1.3 billion in 2024, research has shown.
The results of the research by Omdia were presented at the 4th META Cinema Forum, the largest cinema convention in the Middle East and Africa that got underway today at Atlantis the Palm in Dubai.
The fast recovery in the MENA region is in sharp contrast to the recovery of the cinema industry in the rest of the world.
Due to the Covid-19 lockdown, more than 35,517 (17 percent) of the 203,778 cinema screens worldwide were shut down at the beginning of 2020.
However, only 261 or 8 percent of the 3,099 screens in the Middle East and Africa were closed due to the pandemic, data shows. Currently, 168,261 cinema halls are open while the rest 35,517 are yet to re-open.
Globally, the combined revenues in the box office industry plummeted by 64.7 percent to roughly $15 billion last year, from $42.5 billion in 2019.
Box office revenue in the GCC, Jordan and Lebanon is expected to exceed $1.3 billion by 2024, growing from US600 million in 2019, according to Omdia research.
At the META Cinema Forum, more than 500 industry delegates, experts and participants will discuss and debate the opportunities and challenges faced by the industry stakeholders.
The three-day mega film industry conference takes place just a few weeks into Dubai Expo 2020 – the largest event in the Middle East and Africa region– and will address key issues and highlight the development of the film industry.
The MEA region has one of the fastest-growing entertainment industries in the world and governments are investing heavily to diversify economies.
GCC countries, Jordan and Lebanon, will see the addition of roughly 1,000 cinema screens over the next three years, taking the total number of screens from 2,100 in 2021 to 3,100 by the end of 2024, data shows.
Nearly half of the 3,100 cinema screens are expected to be in Saudi Arabia – the biggest growth market for the cinema industry, delegates and participants at the META Cinema Forum were told.
Data shows that Saudi Arabia will fuel the growth of the cinema industry in the Middle East and Africa region and that’s where most of the opportunities are going to come from.
Leila Masinaei, Managing Partner, Great Mind Events Management, said, “People in the Middle East, especially the young generation, will continue to watch movies in cinema halls – that will primarily drive the growth of the industry, unlike the Western countries where OTT and content streaming channels are encouraging consumers to watch movies at homes.”