Global cinema operators such as AMC Entertainment, Vue International and Vox Cinemas are hoping to get a slice of the Saudi market – which is estimated at 32 million people – as the Gulf kingdom began issuing licenses on Thursday for running movie theaters.

The move comes after Riyadh announced the lifting of a decades-long ban on screening movies in a landmark decision last December, as part of the modernization drive by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as the Vision 2030 initiative.

The Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information, in a press statement on Thursday, said it had “finalized the terms of licensing to restore cinema in Saudi Arabia” and that “licensing commences immediately.”

The cinema licensing regulations cover three types of licenses: Cinema venue development, exhibitor, and cinema venue operating.

"The restoration of cinema will be an important lever to reach this goal, stimulating economic growth and diversification, creating more jobs and enriching the entertainment options here in Saudi Arabia, the largest such market in the region,” said Dr. Awwad Alawwad, Minister of Culture and Information.

The Vision 2030 initiative, according to Alawwad, aims to “provide shared experiences for Saudi families, which will drive our cultural economy and see an increase in families' spending on cultural and recreational activities from 2.9% to 6% by 2030.”

The decision comes amid reports that Dubai-based VOX Cinemas, among the leading multiplex operators in the Middle East, will launch its first public screening in Saudi Arabia on Saturday in an effort to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease, according to an AFP report. The screening in Riyadh will feature content from local producers including Myrkott Production and Telfaz Company, it said citing the operator.

Global operators have shown interest in entering the Saudi market. The Ministry of Culture said it is anticipating that “by 2030 the kingdom will have opened more than 350 cinemas, with over 2,500 screens.”

In January, Saudi Arabia began screening feature-length animated children's films in a makeshift cinema at a cultural club in Jeddah.

A month later, Vue International – a cinema operator spanning 10 countries, 212 sites and 1,902 screens – agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Abdulmohsin Al Hokair Holding Group to explore the construction and operation of state of the art multiplex cinemas in Saudi Arabia.

Also, in November of last year, AMC Entertainment – one of the world’s largest cinema operators – signed an MoU with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia to explore commercial opportunities for collaboration. The company hopes to be able to build and open a brand new cinema theater by the end of this year.

AMC CEO Adam Aron has called the December announcement a “historic moment for the theatrical exhibition industry” and said that it was a “a tremendous opportunity to connect AMC's movie products with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's more than 30 million citizens, many of whom we know are movie fans based on their regular visits to cinemas in neighboring countries."

[Cover photo via Reuters]