There is a lot of action for box office watchers to contemplate right now, whether it’s the record-breaking success of A24’s BACKROOMS, the impressive holds (rising week-on-week in multiple markets) of Focus Features’ OBSESSION, or the week-2 drops of Disney’s STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU. There’s also a host of potential blockbuster big-hitters lining up to tempt global audiences in June with SCARY MOVIE, MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, DISCLOSURE DAY, TOY STORY 5, and SUPERGIRL all arriving in a 4-week window, not to mention potential disrupter THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS: THE LAST ACT. And that doesn’t even get us to July!
Given all that, even the most seasoned of box office watchers could be forgiven for overlooking the rumblings of a seismic shift happening at the Middle East box office. This past weekend saw Saudi-Egyptian co-production 7 DOGS dominate the regional box office, topping the local charts in nearly every regional market through local distribution MAF (Majid Al Futtaim) Independent Distribution.
Opening Wednesday May 27 for the Eid al-Adha Islamic holiday, the action thriller collectively grossed an estimated $8.85 million across the region (figures are unavailable for Qatar) on its opening weekend, rising to $10.3 million by the end of its first 7 days in release..
Saudi Arabia saw the film deliver a 5-day take of Riyal 13.7 million ($3.66m) from over 243,000 admissions, according to latest figures from our partners Rentrak. This is the best result yet for both a Saudi production and an Arabic film in the market – in both cases beating the previous record set by last July’s ALZARFA (which took Riyal 10.5m in its first 5 days). 7 DOGS is also the fourth biggest opening so far in the relatively new cinema market, which only saw cinemas begin to re-open, after a 35-year ban, in April 2018, behind OPPENHEIMER, BAD BOYS: RIDE OF DIE and SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME.
The presence of BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE in that group is significant. 7 DOGS, which shot in Riyadh, was the brain-child of Turki Al Alshikh, the Chairman of the Board of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority which develops and regulates the Kingdom’s entertainment sector, who served as an executive producer. Clearly looking to film genres and filmmakers that have been succeeding in the market in recent years to turbo-charge the already rapidly growing local film market in Saudi Arabia, 7 DOGS brings in a host of Hollywood-experienced talent led by Belgian-born directing team Adil and Bilall, who handled both BAD BOYS FOR LIFE and BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE.
It was a brilliant business move to bring in the directing duo behind the BAD BOYS films. RIDE OR DIE grossed a massive $23.5 million in Saudi Arabia, which was the #1 performing international market for the film, while UAE made the top 5 markets with $10.1 million. The Middle East region delivered approximately 20% of the film’s entire $212.2 million International gross. The success followed the already strong posting in the region for BAD BOYS FOR LIFE, which had seen both Saudi Arabia and UAE finish in the top 10 International markets grossing $8.8 million and $5.5 million, respectively, with approximately 10% of the International total ($220.2m) coming from the Middle East.
While annual box office across Saudi Arabia has remained fairly stable over the last five years it has seen further growth over the past couple of years. Calendar box office was up +8.9% in 2025 over 2024 (+7.2% in admissions). Box office for the first 5 months of 2026, through Sunday May 31, is up +9.7% over the same period in 2025 (with admissions up +9.2% to 7.26m).
The below graph looks at the market share of total box office (based on play-weeks rather than calendar weeks, due to available information) of Arabic language films, as well as films produced in Egypt, Saudi Arabia (KSA), and India, over the past five years and the current year to date. It is worth noting that there is overlap between categories. The graph is intended purely to demonstrate the changing market share over time among popular non-English categories of film in the Kingdom. For example, 7 DOGS is Saudi-produced, Egypt-produced, and Arabic language.
The portion of the total box office taken by Saudi productions has been growing more rapidly. Back in 2021-2022, local productions accounted for just 0.2-0.3% of total annual box office. Over the past three years the market share attributable to Arabic films has remained fairly consistent (2023: 33.7%, 2024: 31.4%, 2025: 35.6%), with 2026 to date looking to be approximately 37%. Saudi productions have seen their share increasing notably from those low 2021-2022 numbers to 8.8% in 2023, 5.5% in 2024 and a whopping 13.5% in 2025, when both the #1 and #3 Arabic performers in the market were Saudi titles: ALZARFA and SHABAB EL BOMB 2 – the first year in which a Saudi title topped the list of Arabic performers in the market. This year to date puts the market share for Saudi productions, including 7 DOGS (which has yet to chase down SHABAB EL BOMB 3 in total gross terms), at around 14.7%.
Action is a huge draw in Saudi Arabia. In 2025 titles classifiable within the action genre delivered over 42% of the total box office. For 7 DOGS the stunt work reportedly accounted for approximately 12.5% of the official $40 million budget and set a couple of Guinness World records in the process. It was handled by 87Eleven, the team behind the JOHN WICK franchise, under the lead of stunt coordinator Stephen Dunlevy (UNCHARTED, JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4).
Adil and Bilall also brought in their BAD BOYS director of photography Robrecht Heyvaert. Production designer Paul Kirby’s credits include CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE, and JASON BOURNE. While Special Effects Supervisor Duncan Capp previously worked on projects including BATMAN BEGINS and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING. It was produced by Guy Ritchie’s regular producer Ivan Atkitson (THE GENTLEMEN, WRATH OF MAN) who also has Ritchie’s IN THE GREY currently in cinemas across the region.
The cast is led by Egyptian stars Ahmed Ezz, Karim Abdel Aziz and Hana El Zahed, alongside international talent that includes BREAKING BAD star Giancarlo Esposito (recently seen in last summer’s CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD), Italian star Monica Bellucci, and Indian action icon Salman Khan.
All that talent also paid off across the region. Local reports had the film setting an all-time opening day record in Egypt of 25.2 million Egyptian pounds ($485k). The film delivered 131.4 million Egyptian pounds ($2.5m) in its first week, landing an all-time first week record head of local March release Bershama (119.6m Egyptian pounds).
In UAE it was the second-highest opening ever for an Arabic film, delivering a 5-day opening of Dirham 5.88 million ($1.6m), behind only local co-production THE AMBUSH from 2021 ($1.7m). THE AMBUSH was also directed by a filmmaker who is no stranger to a Hollywood action thriller, France’s Pierre Morel (TAKEN).
In Kuwait it grossed Dinar 194k ($627k), making it the #1 Arabic opening on record.
7 DOGS tells the story of an Interpol agent (Ahmed Ezz) joining forces with a high-ranking member of a crime syndicate (the 7 Dogs of the title, Karim Abdel Aziz) in order to prevent a deadly synthetic drug from flooding into the region. The film will open in Turkey at the end of June. Other markets ae expected to follow.
