Saudi invests $64 bn in entertainment as it tries to wean economy off oil

It's a remarkable turnaround for Saudi Arabia, where only a few years ago women were prohibited from driving, restaurants were gender-segregated and most forms of entertainment were banned

Saudi Arabia’s decades-long ban on cinemas only ended in 2018, but the desert kingdom already has Hollywood ambitions.

It’s investing $64 billion in its nascent entertainment industry as part of a broader effort to wean the economy off oil and transform itself into the Middle East’s premier movie hub.

The action flick ‘Desert Warrior’, starring Anthony Mackie (Marvel’s new Captain America), is being filmed entirely in Saudi Arabia, and Gerard Butler’s latest thriller ‘Kandahar’ is starting principal photography in the Al-Ula region this month -- a first for the UNESCO World Heritage Site opened last year as part of Saudi Arabia’s