After a period of coronavirus-enforced closure, Hollywood blockbusters are slowly returning to the big screen.
VOX Cinemas - the biggest exhibition chain in the Middle East operating some 550 screens across the region - has reopened its venues in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar, while its venue in Beirut is currently awaiting government approval to reopen after the devastating blast at the start of last month.
Cameron Mitchell, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Cinema Entertainment Leisure, told Arabian Business, that despite the 50 percent limit on capacity, footfall increased 40 percent last weekend, compared to the previous week.
And with new content returning, he expects numbers to keep rising.
He said: “We’re now back to what people are used to, which is new releases, exciting reasons to go out with their families and see particularly where it is such a family-friendly environment and now given that people aren’t travelling as much, we think we’ll see a good, steady stream of business through to the end of the year.”
Mitchell has revealed the top six films to be released in the region before the end of the year.
Five teenage mutants -- Mirage, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot and Magik -- undergo treatments at a secret institution that will cure them of their dangerous powers. Invited by Dr. Cecilia Reyes to share their stories, their memories soon turn into terrifying realities as they start to question why they're being held and who's trying to destroy them.
Fast forward to the 1980s as Wonder Woman's next big screen adventure finds her facing two all-new foes: Max Lord and The Cheetah.
At birth the Black Widow (aka Natasha Romanova) is given to the KGB, which grooms her to become its ultimate operative. When the U.S.S.R. breaks up, the government tries to kill her as the action moves to present-day New York, where she is a freelance operative.
Featuring Daniel Craig in his fifth and final outing as the fictional MI6 agent, the latest instalment of the globe-trotting spy, James Bond, sees him recruited to rescue a kidnapped scientist. He soon finds himself hot on the trail of a mysterious villain, who's armed with a dangerous new technology.
Members of the prehistoric Crood family meet the advanced Betterman clan.
Feature adaptation of Frank Herbert's science fiction novel, about the son of a noble family entrusted with the protection of the most valuable asset and most vital element in the galaxy.