RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – Saudi cinemas began the screening of the horror and thriller movie Cello, with global participation of stars from the US, England, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Syria.
The movie is based on the novel released in 2021 by Chairman of General Authority for Entertainment, Advisor Turki Al Al-Sheikh, with the same title.
The movie is in the mystery and terror genre. Nasser, the cellist, plays an abnormal piece of music that threatens his life and that of his family, during which the ambitious cellist learns that his cello cost is more insidious than he thought.
In a post on X platform, Al Al-Sheikh, the writer of the movie, announced that the film achieved the largest opening in the history of Saudi cinema with 53,103 tickets sold.
He said that the movie’s stars are Saudis, Gulf, Arabs and international actors, stressing that 60 percent of the cast are from Saudi Arabia.
Oscar-winning actor Tobin Bell, Samer Ismail, Jeremy Irons, Mila Al-Zahrani, Muhanad Al-Hamdi and Elham Ali feature in Cello, directed by Darren Lynn Bousman.
The movie was filmed in several locations in Saudi Arabia and Prague in the Czech Republic.
The film has been produced by Envision Media Art’s Lee Nelson and its executive producer is Sultan Al Muheisen and Niko Ruokosuo for Alamiya and David Tish (The Ice Road, Mr Church) for Envision Media Arts.
The film was financed by Rozam Media., which also owns all rights to the film.
Al Al-Sheikh, in a previous post on X, said that the preparation of the movie Cello took two years of writing, communication and diving into the world of cinema.
It took eight weeks to shoot, and 70 percent of the movies was filmed in Saudi Arabia between Riyadh, Dhurma and AlUla and the remaining in Europe by a Saudi national company.
Over 200 Saudi nationals trained in photography assistance were taught by the most renowned directors, photography managers, makeup, clothing and design industry professionals.
The film will be dubbed into seven languages and screened in cinemas worldwide and on several digital platforms.
Cello is now being screened in several cinemas across the Kingdom.