--- title: Saudi Arabia Overturns Cinema Ban With 'Black Panther' description: The film will be the first publicly shown in cinemas in Saudi Arabia since the conservative kingdom banned movie theaters in the 1980s. canonical: https://time.com/5230354/black-panther-saudi-arabia-cinema/ author: Eli Meixler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-06T02:52:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:53:33.836Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Saudi Arabia Overturns Cinema Ban With 'Black Panther' og:description: There have been no public movies shown in Saudi Arabia since a 1980s ban og:url: https://time.com/5230354/black-panther-saudi-arabia-cinema/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9772ee1053b48d4e/69892cfbfb4eac061389643c/ap18077490446715.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Film Box Office og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Saudi Arabia Overturns Cinema Ban With 'Black Panther' twitter:description: There have been no public movies shown in Saudi Arabia since a 1980s ban twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9772ee1053b48d4e/69892cfbfb4eac061389643c/ap18077490446715.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Black Panther_ Will Be the First Film Shown in Saudi Arabian Cinemas in 35 Years by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Apr 6, 2018 2:52 AM UTC  Chadwick Boseman in "Black Panther." Chadwick Boseman in "Black Panther."Marvel Studios/Disney—AP by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Apr 6, 2018 2:52 AM UTC _Black Panther_ will break Saudi Arabia’s 35-year long cinema ban, becoming the first film publicly shown in theaters in the conservative gulf kingdom since they were shuttered in the 1980s. The Marvel superhero film will receive a gala [opening](http://variety.com/2018/film/global/black-panther-to-break-saudi-arabias-35-year-cinema-ban-1202744703/) on April 18 in Saudi Arabia’s brand new AMC theater in Riyadh, the country’s capital, _Variety_ reports. The opulent cinema house, which boasts 600 leather seats and marble bathrooms, is a showpiece of Saudi Crown Prince [Mohammed bin Salman](http://time.com/4838684/mohammed-bin-salman-saudi-arabia/)‘s drive to reinvent and reform the ultra-conservative Muslim country. The 32-year-old prince, who rose to prominence last year after [purging](http://time.com/5018012/saudi-purge-mohammed-bin-salman/) dozens of rivals in what was termed an [anti-corruption](http://time.com/5016727/corruption-crackdowns-can-bring-political-advantages/) drive, has met with numerous [foreign leaders](http://time.com/5190738/mohammed-bin-salman-theresa-may/) and introduced high-profile liberalizations, including permitting Saudi Arabian women to [drive](http://time.com/4958442/saudi-arabia-women-to-drive-movement-cars/). **Read more**: [_The Saudi Crown Prince Thinks He Can Transform the Middle East. Should We Believe Him?_](http://time.com/longform/mohammed-bin-salman/) Most Saudi cinemas were shuttered during the early 1980s following the country’s adoption of hardline religious legal codes, but some improvised cinema screens persisted. Earlier this year, _The Emoji Movie_ was [shown](https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-cinema/saudi-arabia-begins-screening-films-after-decades-long-ban-lifted-idUKKBN1F40QS) on one such screen, Reuters reported. AMC Entertainment, which is owned by Chinese conglomerate [Dalian Wanda Group](http://time.com/4351652/china-wanda-theme-part-wang-jianlin-disney-nanchang/), reportedly plans to open an additional 40 cinemas in Saudi Arabia in the next five years, and up to 100 by 2030\. The new industry hopes to [create](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-cinema/saudi-arabia-begins-screening-films-after-decades-long-ban-lifted-idUSKBN1F40QS) some 30,000 jobs in Saudi Arabia, according to Reuters. Since opening in February, _Black Panther_ has earned over [$1.2 billion](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=marvel2017b.htm) in global sales, making it the tenth highest-grossing film in history, according to Box Office Mojo. It also became the [most-tweeted](https://chicago.suntimes.com/entertainment/black-panther-is-most-tweeted-about-movie-ever-twitter-report/) about film ever, racking up 35 million mentions, the Associated Press reports. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5230354/black-panther-saudi-arabia-cinema/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5230354/black-panther-saudi-arabia-cinema/"},"headline":"Black Panther Will Be the First Film Shown in Saudi Arabian Cinemas in 35 Years","datePublished":"2018-04-06T02:52:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:53:33.836Z","description":"The Marvel superhero film will receive a gala opening on April 18","url":"https://time.com/5230354/black-panther-saudi-arabia-cinema/","keywords":["movies","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9772ee1053b48d4e/69892cfbfb4eac061389643c/ap18077490446715.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9772ee1053b48d4e/69892cfbfb4eac061389643c/ap18077490446715.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Film Box Office","caption":"Film Box Office","creditText":"Marvel Studios/Disney—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5230354/black-panther-saudi-arabia-cinema/","name":"Black Panther Will Be the First Film Shown in Saudi Arabian Cinemas in 35 Years"}}]}] ```