IMAX in talks for first local Saudi Arabia feature film

IMAX in talks for first local Saudi Arabia feature film
The goal is to have 50 IMAX screens in the Kingdom in the next five years, says CEO Richard Gelfond. (Supplied)
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Updated 18 October 2024
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IMAX in talks for first local Saudi Arabia feature film

IMAX in talks for first local Saudi Arabia feature film
  • Plan for more cinemas and content, says CEO Richard Gelfond
  • IMAX eyeing Saudi Arabia, Mideast, to open a flagship location

DUBAI: IMAX Corp. is holding advanced talks with a Saudi Arabia company to produce a local feature film in the next few years, the company’s CEO Richard Gelfond told Arab News during a recent interview.

In Saudi Arabia, the long-term plan is to “not only build a significant theater network, but also lean into the content side,” he said.

IMAX currently has 10 cinemas in the Kingdom, with 22 more set to open in partnership with the top four exhibitors.

This includes the partnership with Saudi Arabia’s largest exhibitor, muvi Cinemas, to open four new IMAX screens by 2025 across the Kingdom.

The goal is to have 50 IMAX screens in the Kingdom in the next five years, said Gelfond.

He said that like everybody else they were “surprised” when Saudi Arabia announced the reopening of cinemas in 2018, and “were fairly early into the market.”

IMAX opened its first screen in the Kingdom in 2019. Since then, the country has consistently ranked among IMAX’s top 20 markets worldwide and was the No. 14 market globally in 2024.

The Kingdom is an “excellent location” for IMAX due to the young movie-going population that has a high disposable income, likes quality and is willing to pay for it, he explained.

Moreover, he added, IMAX has been in other Middle Eastern countries for a long time and has been involved in local, successful movies, so “this (Saudi Arabia) wasn’t a startup opportunity.”

For example, IMAX was involved in the making of the 2009 film “Journey to Mecca” and the 1992 film “Fires of Kuwait.”

“Saudi Arabia has really proven in a short period of time that the population really wants something special and the best and cutting-edge (movies and entertainment), and not just something that was done years ago,” Gelfond said.

He added that IMAX was eyeing Saudi Arabia, and other markets in the Middle East region, to open a flagship location.

This would be similar to international ones such as the British Film Institute in London, Lincoln Square in New York City, Grand Cinema Sunshine in Tokyo, and IMAX Sydney in Australia.

A delegation from the company recently visited the region and met with potential investors and partners to explore opportunities for collaboration, he said.

Last year, over 20 percent of IMAX’s box office revenue came from local productions across China, Japan, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Korea, Gelfond said.

Many of these productions, particularly Indian and Japanese films, are popular in Saudi Arabia, along with Hollywood films and local-language content.

He said that what makes the firm’s “economics work” is not only establishing IMAX screens but generating box office success from Hollywood and local films.

He added that it makes sense to “accelerate” network growth and maximize revenues by doing both “the theaters and the content side.”

“IMAX is probably one of the few truly global entertainment brands, and one of the keys to our success has been mixing Hollywood content with local-language content,” Gelfond added.

 


Billionaire Bezos announces restrictions on Washington Post opinion coverage

Billionaire Bezos announces restrictions on Washington Post opinion coverage
Updated 58 min 23 sec ago
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Billionaire Bezos announces restrictions on Washington Post opinion coverage

Billionaire Bezos announces restrictions on Washington Post opinion coverage
  • World’s third-richest man said the newspaper will no longer run views opposed to “personal liberties and free markets”

WASHINGTON: The Washington Post will no longer run views opposed to “personal liberties and free markets” on its opinion pages, its owner Jeff Bezos announced on Wednesday, the latest intervention by the billionaire in the major US paper’s editorial operations.
“We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets,” wrote Bezos on social media platform X.
“We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.”
The move, a major break from the norm on opinion pages at the Post and at most credible news media organizations worldwide, comes as US media face increasing threats to their freedom and accusations of bias from President Donald Trump.
In October, Bezos sparked controversy by blocking the Post’s planned endorsement of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential election, triggering newsroom protests and subscriber cancelations.
And in January, an award-winning political cartoonist for the newspaper announced her resignation after a cartoon depicting Bezos groveling before Trump was rejected.
At the time, editorial page editor David Shipley defended the decision, saying it was made to avoid repeated coverage on the same topic.
On Wednesday, Bezos announced Shipley would be leaving his post because he had not signed on to the new opinion pages policy.
“I suggested to him that if the answer wasn’t ‘hell yes,’ then it had to be ‘no,’” said Bezos.
Other Post staffers also expressed their concern.
“Massive encroachment by Jeff Bezos into The Washington Post’s opinion section today — makes clear dissenting views will not be published or tolerated there,” said Jeff Stein, the paper’s chief economics correspondent, on X.
Stein added that he had “not felt encroachment on my journalism on the news side of coverage, but if Bezos tries interfering with the news side I will be quitting immediately.”
Amazon owner and world’s third-richest man Bezos, along with other US tech moguls, have appeared increasingly close to Trump since his election last year.
Bezos was among a group of tech billionaires who were given prime positions at Trump’s inauguration, and he visited the Republican at his Mar-a-Lago estate during the transition period.
In his post on Wednesday, Bezos said the Post did not have to provide opposing views because “the Internet does that job.”


MSNBC axes Israel critics Ayman Mohyeldin, Joy Reid in internal shake-up

MSNBC axes Israel critics Ayman Mohyeldin, Joy Reid in internal shake-up
Updated 26 February 2025
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MSNBC axes Israel critics Ayman Mohyeldin, Joy Reid in internal shake-up

MSNBC axes Israel critics Ayman Mohyeldin, Joy Reid in internal shake-up
  • Shake-up was described by US media as “bloodbath of non-white anchors,” after cuts disproportionately affected Black and minority presenters
  • Mohyeldin and Reid are known for amplifying Palestinian perspectives in their show

LONDON: US news network MSNBC has canceled the shows of presenters Ayman Mohyeldin and Joy Reid, both known for their critical coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza, following an internal restructuring.

The sweeping shake-up, announced by Rebecca Kutler, the network’s new president, also saw the cancellation of shows hosted by Alex Wagner, Jonathan Capehart, and Katie Phang.

Described by some US media as a “bloodbath of non-white anchors,” the changes disproportionately affected Black and minority presenters, as well as outspoken critics of former President Donald Trump and Israel’s military actions in Gaza. Some have been made redundant, while others await editorial decisions on their future roles.

Mohyeldin, the Egyptian-born host of “Ayman Mohyeldin Reports,” will air his final episode on April 20, while Reid, who has hosted “The ReidOut” since 2020, presented her last show on Monday after Kutler confirmed rumors of its cancellation.

Both presenters have been praised for amplifying Palestinian perspectives, offering what some experts have called a rare counterbalance to the dominant pro-Israel narrative in US media.

“My show had value,” Reid said during a YouTube stream on Sunday night, listing the range of topics her team tackled each day. “Whether it was the Black Lives Matter issues … (or) talking about Gaza and the fact that we as the American people have … a right to object to little babies being bombed … I am not sorry that I stood up for those things.”

Mohyeldin has yet to comment, but MSNBC said he would remain at the network in a less prominent role.

Joy Reid has hosted The ReidOut show on MSNBC since 2020. (AFP/File)

The network cited declining ratings as the reason for canceling Mohyeldin’s and Reid’s shows. However, some observers speculated that the decision was part of a broader trend of sidelining pro-Palestinian voices.

Commenting on the reshuffle, former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan — whose show was canceled in late 2023 after he refused the network’s request for “more straight news coverage” of the Gaza war — expressed disappointment.

He described the cancellations as a “big loss for MSNBC viewers,” adding that the two anchors “talked about issues — racism, fascism, Gaza — that other hosts have avoided.

The internal shake-up comes at a turbulent time for MSNBC, which saw its ratings plummet after the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7.

While viewership has rebounded — rising 77 percent since Trump’s inauguration last month — analysts suggest the changes signal MSNBC’s intent to consolidate its progressive brand for an older audience, despite earlier reports that parent company Comcast sought to appeal to more Republican viewers.


White House takes control of the press pool covering Trump

White House takes control of the press pool covering Trump
Updated 26 February 2025
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White House takes control of the press pool covering Trump

White House takes control of the press pool covering Trump
  • The move follows Trump administration's decision to bar AP from being in the press pool

WASHINGTON: The White House said on Tuesday it would decide which media organizations participate in the press pool that covers the president, wresting control away from the group of journalists that has done so for decades.

Karoline Leavitt, President Donald Trump's spokeswoman, said that while traditional media organizations would still be allowed to cover the president, the administration plans to change who participates. The pool system allows select television, radio, wire, print and photojournalists to cover events in smaller spaces such as the Oval Office and share their reporting with the broader media.

The move follows the Trump administration's decision to bar the Associated Press from being in the press pool because it has declined to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, the name Trump has assigned the body of water, or update its widely followed stylebook to reflect such a change.

"For decades, a group of D.C.-based journalists, the White House Correspondents' Association, has long dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the president of the United States in these most intimate spaces. Not anymore," Leavitt said at a news briefing.

"Moving forward, the White House press pool will be determined by the White House press team," she said, referring to White House staff.

The WHCA, which has previously coordinated the pool rotation, said it had done so to ensure consistent professional standards and fairness in access on behalf of the public.

"This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States. It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president. In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps," WHCA President Eugene Daniels said in a statement.

Reuters is a member of the press pool and Reuters reporters are members of the WHCA.

Leavitt said the five major cable and broadcast television networks would continue to hold their rotating seats in the pool while the White House would add streaming services. Rotating print reporters and radio reporters would continue to be included, while new outlets and radio hosts would be added.

“We’re going to be now calling the shots,” Trump said at a gathering of reporters in the Oval Office later in the day when asked about the move.

A federal judge on Monday denied a request by the AP to immediately restore full access for the news agency's journalists to pooled events in the Oval Office and on Air Force One, where Trump regularly holds question-and-answer sessions with reporters.


Firas Maksad joins Eurasia Group as Managing Director for MENA

Firas Maksad joins Eurasia Group as Managing Director for MENA
Updated 26 February 2025
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Firas Maksad joins Eurasia Group as Managing Director for MENA

Firas Maksad joins Eurasia Group as Managing Director for MENA
  • He will oversee a team of analysts focused on covering the region’s geopolitics and macroeconomics

DUBAI: Firas Maksad has joined Eurasia Group, a leading global research and advisory firm, as the new Managing Director, Middle East and North Africa, it was announced on Wednesday.

He will oversee a team of analysts focused on covering the region’s geopolitics and macroeconomics, as well as US foreign policy towards the Middle East.

Maksad is a recognized expert on the politics of Lebanon and Syria, the geopolitics of the Arab Gulf states, and the broader dynamics of the Middle East.

Before joining Eurasia Group, he was a senior director and senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, a leading Washington-based think tank. He also managed his own boutique political consulting firm and has been an adjunct professor at George Washington University's Elliott School for International Affairs. Earlier in his career, Firas worked for Eurasia Group as an analyst in the Middle East and North Africa practice.

Maksad’s writings have appeared in leading publications such as the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, and the Los Angeles Times. He frequently offers expert commentary on US politics and the Middle East for global news networks, including CNN, the BBC, CNBC, Bloomberg, and others.


Jaffa theater appeals to Israeli High Court over Palestinian film ban

Jaffa theater appeals to Israeli High Court over Palestinian film ban
Updated 25 February 2025
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Jaffa theater appeals to Israeli High Court over Palestinian film ban

Jaffa theater appeals to Israeli High Court over Palestinian film ban
  • Theater cites abuse of power, infringement of artistic freedom
  • Mahmoud Abu Arisha: ‘We will fight for our creative space’

LONDON: A theater in Jaffa has appealed to Israel’s High Court of Justice after police banned the screening of Palestinian films.

Jaffa’s Al-Saraya Theater argued that the ban constituted an abuse of power and an infringement of artistic freedom, accusing the authorities of overreach and censorship.

Mahmoud Abu Arisha, the theater’s manager, said: “We will fight for our creative space and not accept any entity with pretensions of being a self-appointed censor of artistic creativity and freedom of speech.

“We must not accept the grim reality that the police are trying to shape, in which artists and cultural institutions live under the direct threat of interference in artistic content.”

The theater is seeking an explanation for the police intervention, assurances against future interference, and clarification on any enforcement action taken against the venue or its management.

The appeal follows multiple disruptions of screenings of two controversial documentaries, “Lyd” and “Jenin, Jenin 2,” since August 2024.

“Jenin, Jenin 2,” a sequel to Palestinian filmmaker Mohammad Bakri’s 2002 documentary on the Battle of Jenin during the Second Intifada, examines Israeli military operations in the West Bank city in 2023.

Its screening was blocked in August after police deemed it incitement, summoning Abu Arisha for questioning on suspicion of “disrupting public order.”

Authorities also suspected him of planning to show “Jenin, Jenin,” which was banned in 2021 following a libel suit by an Israeli soldier who appeared briefly in the film.

Abu Arisha argued that the ban on the original film did not apply to its sequel and accused the authorities of exceeding their legal mandate.

Police again summoned Abu Arisha in October, this time ordering him to cancel the screening of “Lyd” — a film exploring an alternate history in which the Nakba never occurred — after Israel’s Culture Minister Miki Zohar raised concerns about its potential impact.

While authorities initially justified blocking “Lyd” by citing an unresolved complaint from Israel’s film rating board, the documentary was eventually shown as part of the Solidarity Film Festival at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque.

Zohar asked Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to review the Cinematheque’s funding following the screening, suggesting that festival films may have violated Israel’s so-called Nakba Law, which authorizes the minister to withdraw state funds from any institution or body that commemorates “Israel’s Independence Day or the day on which the state was established as a day of mourning.”