With stunning scenes filmed in Abu Dhabi, F1: The Movie Middle East box office numbers are soaring—much like the sport’s growing popularity in the region.
Apple Original Films’ eagerly anticipated F1: The Movie, starring Brad Pitt and directed by Joseph Kosinski, has delivered an electrifying opening weekend at the global box office, becoming a historic milestone for the studio and the genre alike.
Racing to an extraordinary $144 million worldwide in its first four days, F1: The Movie proved that when premium content meets the right platform, audiences respond in unprecedented ways. The film’s domestic performance was nothing short of impressive, capturing $55.6 million domestically (US & Canada), while international markets contributed $88.4 million to boost the global tally.
But here’s where the story gets truly electrifying: these figures represent more than just solid box office performance—they’re rewriting the record books. Apple has officially crowned its new champion, with F1: The Movie speeding past previous theatrical releases like Killers of the Flower Moon and Napoleon to claim the studio’s highest-grossing opening weekend. For Brad Pitt, this marks a career milestone, surpassing even the zombie-fueled success of World War Z to become his biggest global launch ever.
The film now leads an entire genre, setting the record for the largest-ever opening weekend for a live-action motorsports film, outperforming acclaimed titles like Ford v Ferrari and Talladega Nights.
What’s driving this phenomenal success? It’s the perfect blend of star power, adrenaline-pumping action, and compelling storytelling—all delivered through Kosinski’s masterful direction, the same visionary behind Top Gun: Maverick’s soaring success.
Apple’s marketing strategy was equally sophisticated, with innovative tactics like haptic trailer technology serving as standout elements in a comprehensive campaign that created buzz by transcending traditional promotional boundaries.
The film’s global triumph has found particularly fertile ground in international markets, with standout performances across China, India, Mexico, and Australia. However, it is in the Middle East where F1: The Movie truly finds its home track.
The UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain spearheaded the region’s exceptional enthusiasm for the film—and for good reason. With significant portions filmed at Abu Dhabi’s iconic Yas Marina Circuit, the movie speaks directly to regional audiences who have witnessed Formula 1’s explosive growth in the region. This authentic connection between the film’s setting and its audience creates a perfect storm of engagement and cultural relevance.
According to Motivate Val Morgan’s comprehensive cinema admissions reporting platform, CineMeasure, the results speak volumes: over 270,000 admissions across our regional circuit during its initial four‑day run secured the coveted number-one position for the weekend. This success reinforces cinema’s unique power to maximize audience connection with premium storytelling.
Building on a season already packed with major releases, F1: The Movie joins the ranks of summer blockbusters such as Marvel’s Thunderbolts*, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, Lilo & Stitch, A Minecraft Movie, and Arabic hits like Asaf and Siko Siko, all fueling exceptional momentum across the region. The Motivate Val Morgan circuit has now reached 16.5 million admissions as of June 2025. With highly anticipated titles including Superman, Fantastic Four: First Step, and Jurassic World: Rebirth still to come, this remarkable box office streak shows no signs of slowing down.
These impressive admissions figures across the region reflect not just enthusiasm for premium content but also underscore the strategic value of the cinema medium itself, which continues to capture audience attention and deliver engagement levels unmatched by other entertainment forms. Cinema remains uniquely positioned as the only premium platform where high-caliber content like F1: The Movie can be experienced in its full glory—delivering the immersive, high-impact experiences that premium storytelling demands.
F1: The Movie reinforces what the industry understands instinctively: when you have truly premium content, the platform choice becomes obvious. For studios and exhibitors, this success validates that compelling storytelling, top-tier talent, and the cinema experience create unmatched audience connection and profitability. For brands, the principle holds true—premium content naturally gravitates toward premium platforms that deliver the premium engagement and impact it deserves.
Sources: Deadline, MVM CineMeasure
A report from the SAWA-hosted session on the power of big screen storytelling at Cannes Lions 2025
When filmmaker Gurinder Chadha OBE stepped onto the Cannes Lions stage alongside SAWA President Katharine Jacob OBE, she brought with her a powerful statistic that would define their 30-minute conversation. Since the release of Bend It Like Beckham in 2002, female football registrations in the UK have exploded from 50,000 to over 800,000.
“That’s not just entertainment,” Chadha said during the session titled “Changing Minds: Shift Global Perspectives Through Big-Screen Storytelling.” “That’s cinema changing the world.”
For Chadha, who grew up “yearning to see people who looked like me on screen center stage, as opposed to on the margins,” cinema represents something profound: the ability to reshape how entire societies think and feel. But what makes the big screen uniquely powerful isn’t just the stories it tells—it’s how those stories are experienced.
“Seeing a film in a collective space is that reminder of the universality of emotions and who we are,” Chadha observed. This shared viewing experience, where diverse audiences come together in a single space, creates a unique opportunity for perspective-shifting that other media simply cannot replicate.
Jacob, drawing on her extensive background in cinema advertising, reinforced this point by highlighting how the big screen environment amplifies every message. When stories reach audiences in this immersive, collective setting, they don’t just reflect culture—they actively create it.
Central to Chadha’s approach is a sophisticated understanding of audience psychology that has direct relevance for anyone crafting messages for the big screen. “I always start with the perspective of the audience,” she explained. “What is the audience thinking? How am I going to shift their opinions? I know what you’re expecting, and then I change it, and I shift it.”
This technique of meeting audiences where they are before challenging their assumptions proved transformative for Bend It Like Beckham. Rather than depicting the typical “immigrant rebellion” narrative, Chadha showed a supportive Sikh family encouraging their daughter’s dreams. By subverting expectations, she normalized what audiences initially saw as foreign or different.
“My job is to reach out to your heart, to help you feel heard, feel alive and make you rethink what is around you,” Chadha said, articulating a mission that extends far beyond entertainment.
Chadha’s insights proved particularly relevant when the conversation turned to today’s fragmented media landscape. In an era where audiences can skip, scroll, or click away in seconds, the challenge for all content creators—whether filmmakers or advertisers—has intensified.
“Our job as creatives is even harder now,” Chadha noted. “We need to surprise the audience.” For advertising specifically, she emphasized the need for “a twist in there to stop people’s [skipping] and go, ‘Oh, I love this.'”
The parallel between effective filmmaking and effective advertising became clear: both require authentic storytelling that connects emotionally while challenging preconceptions. Both benefit from the unique power of the cinema environment to create shared, immersive experiences.
Throughout the session, both speakers emphasized that authentic representation isn’t merely a moral imperative—it’s strategic storytelling. When audiences see themselves reflected authentically in stories, they feel “heard” and become more receptive to the messages being conveyed.
For Chadha, this representation serves a larger purpose: “Cinema allows you to change the world.” By “bringing you into the home” of cultures unlike your own, cinema builds empathy and understanding across differences. Professional athletes have credited her films with inspiring their careers, demonstrating how big-screen storytelling can create real-world change.
The session, part of Cannes Lions’ Changemakers track, underscored a crucial point for anyone working in advertising: the medium shapes the message. The cinema environment—with its scale, immersion, and collective viewing experience—amplifies the impact of every story told there.
As Jacob and Chadha’s conversation revealed, cinema’s power lies not just in its ability to entertain, but in its capacity to shift perspectives, challenge assumptions, and inspire action. For brands and storytellers alike, the big screen offers something increasingly rare in our fragmented media world: the chance to create shared experiences that genuinely change how people think and feel.
Chadha left a lasting note on cinema’s power to shape the world—an enduring reminder that messages on the big screen carry both influence and the ability to change perspectives.
This session was hosted by SAWA (the global cinema advertising association) at Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity 2025. SAWA represents cinema advertising companies worldwide, including Motivate Val Morgan in the Middle East.
Middle East cinema markets deliver exceptional Eid al-Adha 2025 performance, with diverse content spanning Hollywood blockbusters to regional Arabic films driving unprecedented audience engagement.
Motivate Val Morgan has recorded an exceptional cinema box-office performance during the 2025 Eid al-Adha holiday period, with data from its cinema admissions reporting platform, CineMeasure, showing 1.06 million admissions across the circuit in just four days, reflecting robust growth in regional cinema attendance during key cultural holidays.
This success spans both international blockbusters and locally relevant content, creating diverse audience engagement across multiple demographics and significant opportunities for cinema advertising partners.
International blockbusters contributed significantly to this success, led by Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning in their third week of release, followed by the newly released Ballerina. Together, the films delivered over 422,000 admits for the circuit.
Lilo & Stitch, approaching $800 million in global box office revenue, continues to dominate family-oriented segments throughout the region. The live-action adaptation has successfully captured both younger audiences and nostalgic adult viewers.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, with worldwide earnings exceeding $450 million, maintains strong momentum as action movie audiences seek premium theatrical experiences. The UAE’s position among the top 10 international markets for the franchise’s opening highlights the region’s appetite for high-production-value entertainment that maximizes the big-screen experience.
Ballerina, with its $51 million worldwide box office opening, demonstrates the region’s appetite for stylized action entertainment, with the John Wick universe expansion attracting both franchise fans and new audiences seeking premium cinematic experiences.
Beyond the international blockbuster success, regional content delivered equally impressive results during the four-day period. Arabic language films led this segment, with Project X achieving over 150,000 admits after its Eid weekend release and securing the #1 position in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Kuwait, while reaching top five spots in UAE, Lebanon, and Bahrain. Restart – another Arabic-language release – continued its strong theatrical run in its second week, adding over 100,000 admissions during the holiday period.
Asian cinema also demonstrated strong appeal, with Thug Life opening with over 50,000 admits across the circuit, highlighting the diverse international content preferences beyond Hollywood blockbusters.
The broad geographic success across multiple markets indicates strong audience engagement with culturally resonant storytelling from locally produced Arabic films to diverse Asian cinema.
This comprehensive regional performance—spanning Hollywood blockbusters to local content—reflects broader positive global cinema trends. According to Gower Street Analytics, international markets achieved their highest May box office performance since 2019, generating $2.4 billion globally and representing 40% year-over-year growth. Current performance levels now track just 6% below pre-pandemic industry averages.
The combination of strong content performance, recovering market fundamentals, and demonstrated audience enthusiasm from international blockbusters to locally produced content ensures continued robust attendance levels across the region.
This recovery trajectory provides increased stability for advertising investment decisions. Consistent release schedules have now replaced the irregular content availability that characterized the post-pandemic period, creating a schedule with multiple wide releases weekly and more predictable audience traffic patterns, enabling strategic advertising campaign planning.
With consistent content performance and predictable audience patterns, now is the ideal time to maximize your cinema advertising investment across the region. Contact us to explore opportunities.
Mission Impossible UAE 2025 opening reached an impressive $3.6 million, securing the region’s position among the top 10 global markets and highlighting the Middle East’s growing cinema influence.
The weekend of May 22-25, 2025, delivered a spectacular reminder of cinema’s enduring power. Disney’s Lilo & Stitch and Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning combined for an extraordinary $545.7 million global opening, setting the stage for an exceptional summer season.
Lilo & Stitch surfed to a remarkable $341.7 million global debut, claiming the third-highest Disney Live Action opening weekend ever—trailing only to The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. The film’s success story extends far beyond traditional expectations, with the $100 million production—originally destined for Disney+ before receiving a theatrical upgrade.
What makes this performance particularly impressive is the film’s demographic reach. According to THR, rather than relying solely on families, Lilo & Stitch captured 60% of its domestic audience from non-parent demographics, driven largely by Gen Z and millennial women who grew up with the 2002 animated original. This cross-generational appeal translated into robust international numbers, with $158.7 million from overseas markets, including dominant performances in Mexico, the UK, and Brazil.
Tom Cruise continues to defy both gravity and industry expectations with Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning launching to $204 million worldwide. The eighth installment in the franchise achieved series-best numbers globally, collecting $127 million overseas alongside strong domestic performance, surpassing previous franchise record-holder Mission: Impossible – Fallout.
Early audience reception has been positive, with an A- CinemaScore and strong critical reviews praising the film’s practical stunts and emotional storytelling.
The Middle East emerged as a crucial contributor to both films’ success. The UAE ranked among the top 10 markets for Mission: Impossible, with the Tom Cruise vehicle claiming the number one position in the region. Meanwhile, Lilo & Stitch demonstrated strong family appeal across Gulf markets, contributing significantly to Disney’s international haul.
This regional performance underscores the Middle East’s growing importance in the global cinema ecosystem. With the regional market projected to reach $3.44 billion by 2033, driven by young demographics and expanding urban centers, the weekend’s results demonstrate audiences’ appetite for premium theatrical experiences and blockbuster content across all genres.
Both films benefited from premium large format presentations, with IMAX delivering franchise-best numbers for Mission: Impossible ($31M) while Lilo & Stitch attracted families to premium screens. This trend reinforces the industry’s strategic pivot toward enhanced experiences that differentiate theatrical viewing from home streaming.
For cinema advertisers, this weekend demonstrated the power of diverse audience appeal. The success across demographics—from nostalgic millennials to action enthusiasts—created multiple engagement touchpoints. Lilo & Stitch’s family-plus-adult appeal and Mission: Impossible’s premium audience proved cinema’s unique ability to deliver both mass reach and targeted demographics in a captive, premium environment.
The weekend’s triumph establishes momentum for what industry analysts predict could be the most robust summer season since before the pandemic. The upcoming slate includes:
The combination of franchise filmmaking, premium experiences, and global appeal demonstrates that when Hollywood delivers quality content, audiences respond enthusiastically across all markets. Both films proved that theatrical experiences remain irreplaceable—whether through nostalgic emotional connections or breathtaking practical stunts.
The message is clear: cinema remains irreplaceable, and summer 2025 is positioned to be one for the record books, offering unprecedented opportunities for both exhibitors and advertisers to connect with engaged global audiences.
Sources: Deadline, Box Office Mojo, The Hollywood Reporter
VOX Cinemas has launched ‘Fall in Love with Film,’ a comprehensive brand campaign featuring an exclusive original score by two-time Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer. The initiative represents a strategic evolution in experiential marketing, positioning the cinema chain’s emotional connection with audiences at the center of its brand narrative.
The partnership with Zimmer marks a significant investment in brand differentiation for VOX Cinemas, which has operated across the Middle East for 25 years. The composer’s score blends traditional Arabic instruments with Hollywood orchestration, creating what he describes as “a sound that was cinematic at its core, but unmistakably VOX.”
Zimmer’s involvement extends beyond a typical commercial collaboration. “VOX has truly pioneered the cinema experience in the Middle East—a region that is very close to my heart—and I wanted to reflect the role they’ve played in shaping people’s most cherished memories,” Zimmer stated.
The campaign’s execution demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of touchpoint marketing. Beyond screening the brand film in cinemas across the region, VOX has integrated Zimmer’s score throughout the entire customer experience—from lobby atmospheres to customer service calls. This multi-sensory approach creates consistent brand reinforcement at every interaction point.
“The true heart of our story is our customers. For years, they’ve trusted VOX as the place where memories are made—where laughter, love, and even quiet reflection come to life,” said Ignace Lahoud, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim – Entertainment. “This brand video is a tribute to that relationship.”
The campaign rollout spans eight regional markets: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman, Qatar, and Lebanon. VOX has developed localized versions in English, Gulf Arabic, Egyptian Arabic, and Saudi dialect, ensuring cultural relevance across diverse audiences while maintaining campaign cohesion.
‘Fall in Love with Film’ positions VOX Cinemas as more than an entertainment venue—it establishes the brand as a cultural institution integral to personal milestones and shared experiences. The campaign narrative follows generational connections to cinema, emphasizing VOX’s role in creating lasting memories across families and communities.
This strategic positioning differentiates VOX in an increasingly competitive entertainment landscape, where traditional cinema competes with streaming services and digital entertainment options. By emphasizing emotional connection and premium experiences, VOX strengthens its value proposition for both consumers and advertising partners.
The integration of world-class artistic collaborations into cinema branding represents an emerging trend in experiential marketing. Such initiatives demonstrate how premium content partnerships can enhance the overall cinema environment, creating elevated experiences that benefit both audiences and advertising partners alike.
As the entertainment industry continues to evolve, campaigns like ‘Fall in Love with Film’ showcase the potential for cinema operators to leverage artistic partnerships in strengthening their cultural relevance and market positioning.
Source: VOX Press Release
MENA Cinema Forum – the first-ever business conference of its kind in the region, organised by GM Events was held in Dubai on 28th – 29th October 2018.
The 2-day conference covered a range of industry specific topics – with focus on the growth in the cinema industry in the Middle East, and was attended by more than 45 speakers, 450 delegates and 90 sponsors.
Cinema is the fastest growth market in the MENA region witnessing tremendous progress as a result of rapid population growth, urbanization, focus on development across leisure sectors, and the emergence of Saudi Arabia as a new market. Additionally, cinemagoers in the region demand the best movie experiences, stimulating upgrades and innovation across existing and upcoming facilities.
The MENA Cinema Forum brought together a spectrum of stakeholders within the cinema sector, including but not limited to local and international governments, investment companies, mall owners, cinema operators and exhibitors, suppliers and industry leaders.
The forum addressed areas required for successful establishment and operations of cinemas to meet growing regional requirements:
*Another key topic for discussion was global recognition of Arab Cinema, and how strong strategies and supply chains can further improve its acceptance.
As part of the Speakers’ panel, Avinash Udeshi, Chief Operating Officer – Motivate Val Morgan together with Deena Al Mansoori, Founder and CEO – Aljoori for Cinema Production and Advertisement and Anil Pattani, Director – Awan Media was invited on Day 2 to discuss the development of models that guarantee profitability of movie theatres.
Day 1 focused on:
Day 2 focused on:
Key Information from MENA Cinema Forum 2018
Other event features included: technical presentations, product showcases, roundtable discussions, workshop and break-out meetings, networking, awards ceremony, major announcements of upcoming movies in 20198 by 21st century and a special screening of First Man at Reel Cinemas – The Dubai Mall (Dolby Screen).
MENA Cinema Forum 2019
The next forum will be held in November 2019, with a focus on the exhibition industry & cinema infrastructure, and on MENA production.
For more information on the MENA Cinema Forum visit www.menacinema.com
Sources: Emirates 24|7, Forbes Middle East, Zawya, The Arab Weekly and MENA Cinema Forum
