Raya and the Last Dragon, the latest film from Disney Animation Studios, has taken the number one spot at the UAE box office in its first weekend, with Tom & Jerry: The Movie holding on strong in second place.
The animated film sold nearly 19,000 tickets in its first week, which totals to approximately $200,000. The opening was behind what Tom & Jerry managed four weeks ago, which opened to around $300,000 in its opening weekend.
Cinemas in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain remain closed due to COVID-19, with cinemas in other emirates operating at a reduced capacity to prevent spread of the virus.
Raya and the Last Dragon, starring Kelly Marie Tran and Awkwafina, is set in a fictional kingdom called Kumandra, based on the culture of Southeast Asia, where humans and dragons once lived in harmony, before the world fell into disarray. The story follows young princess named Raya goes on a journey to find the last known dragon in existence and once again unite the kingdom.
Saudi cinemas reopened on Sunday after closing for a month due to COVID-19 safety regulations, with Raya and the Last Dragon opening in the Kingdom this Thursday.
The film has gotten a hugely positive reception from critics and audiences alike. The film currently holds a 96 percent critic’s score on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 7.6/10 on IMDb, which is fan-voted.
Tom and Jerry brought in another 12,000 people for a 110,458 total tickets sold since its debut four weeks ago, dropping only slightly each week for a monetary total of $1.2 million.
The property is beloved throughout the Middle East and has been for generations since the property’s debut in 1940, with cartoons still regularly airing on television in the region.
The Mauritanian starring Tahar Rahim as a detainee at Guantanamo Bay and won a Golden Globe for supporting actress Jodie Foster, largely maintained its audience for another 4,400 admissions, 13,500 in total.
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the second film in the Peter Jackson trilogy remastered in 4K by director Peter Jackson released as part of a special month-long event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first film’s release, dropped to 14th at the box office, with Fellowship of the Ring dropping to 23rd.
The third film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King, opens this weekend in the UAE.
Behind You, a horror movie about how it’s scary when something is behind you—wait no sorry it’s about a demon or something—opened in fifth place with nearly 2,000 tickets sold. Another horror film entitled The Owners opened with 1,500 tickets sold.
Dead Reckoning, starring KJ Apa best known as playing Archie Andrews on Riverdale, opened with under 1,000 tickets sold.
Also staying in the top ten are Boss Level, nearing 12,000 admissions total with another 1,600 tickets sold, and The Little Things, bringing in another 1,000 people for nearly 50,000 total.
The Marksman, Starring Liam Neeson, brought in another 1,000 people for over 50,000 tickets sold, far behind the other Neeson release of the year, Honest Thief, which is over 100,000 and still at number 27.
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