Saudi Comedy ‘Alzarfa’ Beats Global Blockbusters

Saudi comedy “Alzarfa: Escape from Hanhounia Hell” dominated the weekend box office frame in Saudi Arabia, beating global blockbusters “Jurassic World: Rebirth” and “F1: The Movie.” 

The wacky heist caper about a botched attempt by three friends to steal a treasure called “The Golden Rashrash” from a museum owned by an eccentric billionaire named Abdullatif Al-Hanhouni now tops the Saudi box office chart, having scored 213,000 admissions and a box office haul of $2.7 million in its first three days on release, according to figures provided by Italia Film, which is the region’s top distributor.

By contrast, “Jurassic World Rebirth” weighed in at number three in Saudi with just 55,000 admissions, earning just over $800,000 in its first frame.

“F1,” in its second frame, came in second at the Saudi box office with 70,000 admissions for a $1.2 million take and a $3.8 million cumulative gross-to-date.

“Alzarfa: Escape from Hanhounia Hell” is produced by Saudi’s Alshimaisi Films and Telfaz11, who are the companies behind the kingdom’s all-time local box office hit “Sattar,” in partnership with Big Time Fund, while Qanawat is handling distribution. “Sattar” in 2023 scored more than $10 million at the home box office becoming the kingdom’s highest grossing local title since the kingdom revoked a 35-year ban on the operation of commercial movie theaters in December 2017.

“Alzarfa” combines the heist movie and film-within-a-film genres given that the three friends, who end up behind bars after their failed heist attempt, subsequently wind up in a movie being bankrolled by the eccentric Saudi tycoon they had tried to rob. The film, about the tycoon’s family’s history, is set in the same locations that the trio had tried to rob. The location is also where “The Golden Rashrash,” which they are on a mission to retrieve, had been stashed.

The action comedy marks the feature…