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On the eve of the Red Sea Film Festival opening Thursday, Imax has opened its first giant screen location in Jeddah with Muvi Cinemas, the country’s largest cinema chain.
The latest Imax screen opening internationally comes as the cinema technologies company looks to show more local language movie titles on its global network of theaters. The Muvi Mall of Arabia location will release the first Arabic language feature film to play on Imax screens next year, Black Light’s action comedy Ambulance, which stars Ibrahim Hajjaj and Muhammed Al-Qahtani and is directed by Colin Teague.
In the meantime, the Mall of Arabia multiplex opened this week with Gladiator II and Moana 2 on its screens, with Kraven the Hunter to follow next week. The opening Wednesday night was hosted by Muvi Cinemas CEO Adon Quinn and Imax CEO Rich Gelfond.
They joined Black Light CEO Talal Al Anazi in a Q&A moderated by actress and producer Fatimah Al Banawi. “Ambulance is a great choice to be the first Saudi film digitally remastered and experienced in Imax, and we look forward to Ibrahim Al Hajjaj and Mohammed Al Qahtani along with director Colin Teague bringing the film to life in Imax,” Muvi Cinemas’ Quinn said.
The movie theater launch also comes as Imax looks to increase its footprint in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, and coincides with the fourth edition of the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah kicking off to put a spotlight on the growing film industry in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East and beyond.
“As we open our first location with Muvi Cinemas – the biggest exhibitor in Saudi Arabia and a new strategic partner for Imax – we are excited to expand into Arabic-language content and deliver Arabic-speaking audiences an even greater diversity of experiences,” said Gelfond in a statement.
“Imax continues to grow its global content portfolio with local content from some of the fast-growing and most exciting film industries worldwide, with a record 61 local language films featured in Imax in 2024,” he added.