JEDDAH — While box office returns in 2020 are expected to suffer an estimated 80 percent global drop due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Saudi Arabia is bucking this downward trend, having grown since 2019 to become the Middle East’s top-grossing territory this year to date, reported Variety.com, a US-based website that features breaking entertainment news, movie reviews, and box office results, on Monday.

According to the report, Saudi Arabia this year has overtaken the United Arab Emirates and is currently the region’s top-grossing territory, with more than $73 million in theatrical movie ticket sales over the past 40 weeks — a roughly $2 million increase in box office returns compared with the same period in 2019.

The UAE during the same 2020 period has generated roughly $51 million, roughly a quarter of its 2019 box office draw.

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Culture Prince Badr Bin Abdullah Bin Farhan on Tuesday expressed his delight over the report in a tweet saying the success is in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

“We believe that Saudi Arabia is the only cinema market globally to have expanded in 2020,” Cameron Mitchell, CEO of prominent Middle East exhibitor VOX Cinemas, was quoted as saying in the report.

Mitchel sees the Saudi market as having increased by roughly 4 percent year to date — despite the fact that, due to the pandemic, cinemas were shuttered there between March and the middle of June — and is forecasting an 8 percent growth by year’s end.

Mitchell notes that as a theatrical market, the Middle East in 2019 was worth $600 million, of which Saudi accounted for a $110 million share and the UAE roughly $250 million. This excludes releases of Indian and Arabic films and some indie content.

“This year our numbers are telling us that the UAE is going to be worth about $60 million, and Saudi Arabia is going to be worth $120 million,” the report said quoting VOX Cinemas CEO. — Agencies