EXCLUSIVE: Saudi hit thriller Night Courier (Mandoob) has continued its record-breaking box office run at home in its second week on release, outpacing Aquaman and Dunki with just under three times the admissions of either picture.
Per the figures of the movie’s Saudi distributor Front Row Arabia, the joint distribution label of Front Row Filmed Entertainment and local exhibitor muvi Cinemas, Night Courier sold 71,000 tickets in its second week on release for a gross of $1.15 million.
This brings its total gross to $3.4 million on the back of 251,000 admissions over the course of 12 days.
The picture comfortably beat DC and Warner Bros.’ tentpole Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which clocked 27,700 admissions for a $442,000 gross in its first week on release in Saudi Arabia, as well Shah Rukh Khan’s Bollywood blockbuster Dunki, with drew 26,000 spectators for a $357,000 gross.
Warner Bros.’ Wonka slipped to fourth place in the Saudi box office chart with 22,300 admissions for $330k gross, while Egyptian comedy Cart Sha7en came in fifth with 12,600 admissions for $200,000 gross.
In other news related to the title, Front Row Filmed Entertainment and the Kuwait National Cinema Company (KNCC) have announced they will launch the film in the Gulf territories of Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman on January 11.
It will be an interesting test case for a Saudi film in the wider Gulf region.
Night Courier is the latest production from rising Riyadh-based company Telfaz11, which is already riding high this year on the back of the success of its freestyle wrestling comedy Sattar, which sold 903,000 tickets for a $11 million gross at home.
The thriller marks the first feature film of Telfaz11 co-founder Ali Kalthami, who first achieved fame for his viral YouTube videos which racked up billions of views ahead of the lifting of Saudi’s 35-year cinema ban in 2017.
His Riyadh-set feature debut stars, Saudi actor Mohamad AlDokhei, a long time collaborator of Kalthami appeared in many of the viral works, in his first non-comedic role as a night courier (mandoob) who gets caught in the crosshairs of an illegal alcohol ring.
The feature is produced by Telfaz11 Studio and MUVI Studios with the supported of the Red Sea Film Foundation’s Production Support Fund.
It is lead produced by Abdulrahman Jarrash Al-Qahtani, alongside Chawki Knis. Executive producers are Alaa Faden, Wael Abumansour, Mohammed Alhamoud, Adon Quinn. Kalthami co-wrote the screenplay with writer and director Mohammed Algarawi.