Cinemas to open in Saudi Arabia for first time in 35 years

Public cinemas in Saudi Arabia were shut down in the 1980s, as part of a wave of ultra-conservatism.

For more than 35 years, people living in the Gulf State weren’t able to watch the latest releases unless it was streamed online.

But that’s about to change, as a resolution passed today paying the way for licences to be granted to commercial cinemas.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is trying to reform the country, including lifting a ban on women driving from next year, and bringing back concerts to please the country’s young population.

Now cinemas will be allowed to open next year.

The government said the first cinemas were expected to open in March 2018.

Many of Saudi Arabia’s clerics view Western movies and even Arabic films made in Egypt and Lebanon as sinful.

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Despite decades of ultraconservative dogma, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has sought to ram through a number of major social reforms with support from his father, King Salman.

Many Saudis went on Twitter to express their joy at the news, posting images of buckets of popcorn and moving graphics of people dancing, fainting and crying.

‘It’s spectacular news. We are in a state of shock,’ said Saudi actor and producer, Hisham Fageeh.

It was not immediately clear if cinemas would have family-only sections, segregating women and families from male-only audiences.

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Another unknown was whether most major Hollywood, Bollywood and Arabic movie releases would be shown in cinemas and how heavily edited the content will be.

The Ministry of Culture and Information said there are no additional details available at this time.

The government said it will announce regulations in the coming weeks.

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