Tom & Jerry: The Movie, a live-action/animation hybrid adaptation of the classic series of animated shorts, topped the UAE’s box office in its first week, selling over 26,000 tickets across the UAE, selling six times as many tickets as its nearest competition.
This is despite a reduced number of cinemas opened in light of COVID-19 restrictions, with all cinemas in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain currently closed. All cinemas in other emirates are operating under reduced capacity to prevent the spread of the virus.
Tom & Jerry, which brings the timeless comic struggle between cat and mouse to the modern day, stars Chloe Grace Moretz, Michael Peña and Rob Delaney as employees in a hotel who are attempting to get rid of Jerry the mouse with the help of Tom the cat ahead of a celebrity wedding taking place in the establishment.
The film is set to open in the United States on 26 February, both in cinemas and on streaming service HBO Max.
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.
Second at the box office is Waafet Reggaala, an Arabic-language film, which sold over 4,000 tickets bringing its four week total to nearly 37,000.
The Little Things, a serial killer thriller starring Denzel Washington, Jared Leto and Rami Malek, all Oscar-winners, came in at number three, with nearly 4,000 admissions and a total of 39,000 in the three weeks since its release.
The Marksman starring Liam Neeson was the number four movie at the weekend’s box office, with 2,000 tickets sold for a total of nearly 48,000.
Music, the directorial debut of singer Sia, was not a success at the UAE box office, selling only 336 tickets in its first week.
Hanging on in the Top 20 are blockbusters Soul, a Disney-Pixar production, which has brought in 105,000 people to date, Croods: A New Age, which has brought in 124,000, and Wonder Woman 1984, which brought in an additional 375 people for a total of over 213,000.
Still in the top 50 is Tenet, in its 25th week, which has sold 150,000 tickets since its debut.
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