Yahoo Lifestyle Anti-Patriarchy Saudi Drama ‘Hobal’ Beats Hollywood Titles, Becoming Standout Local Hit
Saudi filmmaker Abdulaziz Alshlahei’s drama “Hobal” about clashes between tradition and modernity within a Saudi family during the early 1990s is scoring mightily at the Saudi Arabian box office, outperfoming Hollywood titles such as “Mufasa: The Lion King,” “Flight Risk” and “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera.”
The timely film in which a Saudi family is forced by its grandfather to live in isolation in the desert at the outbreak of the 1990 Gulf War, when a young girl falls ill, prompting her mother to fight the patriarchy to try and save her child, is striking a deep chord with Saudi audiences. “Hobal” has now pulled more than 500,000 admissions since its Jan. 2 release via distributor Qanwat Group, racking up a handsome roughly $5.7 million take to date, according to figures from the Saudi Film Commission which compiles Saudi box office numbers.
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Disney’s “Mufasa,” by contrast, has grossed 328,000 admissions and pulled $4.4 million locally since its Dec. 19, 2024, release in Saudi cinemas.
The stellar “Hobal” box office performance in Saudi is being touted as marking the fastest growth for a homegrown indie title at the local box office since Saudi Arabia revoked a 35-year ban on the operation of commercial movie theaters in Dec. 2017.
Significantly “Hobal,” which premiered at the Red Sea Film Festival in December, has been sustaining the momentum of its strong Jan. 2 opening with sold-out screenings across Saudi Arabia, even in rural areas “where audience engagement accounted for over 20% of total admissions,” according to a statement from the distributor.
Since lifting its religion-related ban on cinema Saudi Arabia has become the Middle East-North Africa region’s top movie market with audiences flocking to movie theaters lured both by Hollywood blockbusters and a growing number of local hits.
But the strength of local content is one of Saudi Arabia’s greatest trump cards. As Comscore senior operations manager Nathan Gilligan recently told Variety: “Local product is really strong in Saudi. It is popular even as you go out further into the provinces.”
Outside Saudi, “Hobal” has also been playing well in nearby Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) territories, scoring more than 87,000 admissions in Kuwait, the UAE, Oman, and Bahrain.
“Hobal” was largely shot in the new Bajdah Studios near the futuristic city of NEOM and in the desert and mountain landscapes along Saudi’s Red Sea coast in Tabuk. It is Alshlahei’s third feature, segueing from his groundbreaking drama “The Tambour of Retribution,” about the forbidden love between an executioner’s son and a wedding drummer’s daughter in turn-of-the-century Riyadh. “Tambour,” which was released on Netflix, was Saudi Arabia’s submission for the 2022 best international feature film Oscar.
“Hobal” is produced by Shaf Studios, with Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzi’s Film Clinic and Peninsula Pictures Group as co-producers. The film is produced by Sharif Almajali with Abdulaziz Alshlahei, Mofarij Almujfel, Mohamed Al Turki, and Riyadh Alzamil serving as executive producers. It was supported by the Daw’ Film Competition, the Saudi Film Commission, the Quality of Life Program, and NEOM, with the participation of various private sector partners.
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