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Turki Alalshikh Announces Details of Riyadh Season 2025

Alalshikh revealed that the estimated brand value of Riyadh Season has reached $3.2 billion. (SPA)
Alalshikh revealed that the estimated brand value of Riyadh Season has reached $3.2 billion. (SPA)
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Turki Alalshikh Announces Details of Riyadh Season 2025

Alalshikh revealed that the estimated brand value of Riyadh Season has reached $3.2 billion. (SPA)
Alalshikh revealed that the estimated brand value of Riyadh Season has reached $3.2 billion. (SPA)

Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA) Turki Alalshikh announced the details of Riyadh Season 2025 on Sunday. The new edition will kick off on Friday with a massive parade showcasing the season's new elements.

This year's season represents a major leap forward in the entertainment industry in the Kingdom, continuing the success of previous editions that have established Riyadh as a global entertainment destination.

He extended his highest gratitude to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for their great support to the entertainment sector, enabling it to become a key economic driver and a pillar of quality of life within Saudi Vision 2030.

The latest edition of Riyadh Season marked a new stage of growth in the entertainment sector, attracting more than 20 million visitors from over 135 countries, recording over 3,300 international media visits, and achieving more than 110 billion media impressions across global platforms.

Alalshikh revealed that the estimated brand value of Riyadh Season has reached $3.2 billion (SAR12 billion), highlighting the remarkable global growth of its reputation and affirming its position as one of the leading entertainment brands in the Middle East and the world.

This year's edition features 11 major entertainment zones across Riyadh, hosting 15 global championships and 34 exhibitions and festivals, with participation from more than 2,100 companies—95% of which are local—through 4,200 contracts signed with the private sector. This reflects the empowerment of national talent, the strengthening of the private sector's role, and its contribution to the local economy.

Riyadh Season 2025 reinforces the Kingdom's leadership in the entertainment industry by hosting major global events, making Riyadh the entertainment capital of the region, Alalshikh stressed.

This year's edition is set to capture worldwide attention through its large-scale activities and conferences, including the Joy Forum, which will be held on October 16-17 at Boulevard City. The forum will feature some of the most prominent global entertainment figures, including American content creator MrBeast, UFC President Dana White, sports legend Jon Jones, basketball icon Shaquille O'Neal, TV host and investor Daymond John, and Indian actor and director Aamir Khan, among other global entertainment leaders.

The new season introduces unprecedented international partnerships, most notably the collaboration with MrBeast to launch "Beast Land," a 200,000-square-meter zone featuring over 27 rides and experiences, 40 restaurants and stores, and interactive games and prizes, marking a world-first experience in entertainment design.

As part of its global reach, Alalshikh announced that Riyadh Season will host the Royal Rumble, a major WWE event being held for the first time outside North America.

He also revealed that Boulevard World will feature enhanced content this year, including 1,600 shops, 350 restaurants and cafés, 40 rides and experiences, and 24 subzones, three of which are new: Kuwait, South Korea, and Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Boulevard City will offer a rich array of entertainment, including eight sports tournaments such as Power Slap 17, The Ring V, Riyadh Season P1 Padel Championship, Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, Saudi Masters Darts, and Kings Cup MENA. It will also host 19 entertainment experiences, including six new ones such as Minecraft and Poppy Playtime, along with 20 Arabic concerts and 14 new theatrical productions.

He added: "The Flying Over Saudi Arabia experience, which promotes tourism across various regions of the Kingdom, will also debut this season. This project, developed over three years, allows up to 90 people simultaneously to experience an interactive aerial journey across Saudi destinations."

He further noted that Sneaker Con will return to Boulevard City for its second year, following its great success, while Auto Show Riyadh will be held at Kingdom Arena, featuring 50 cars as prizes for attendees.

At Via Riyadh, the successful Ana Arabia exhibition will continue, showcasing a wide range of premium products across multiple pavilions representing several Arab countries.

He also noted that The Groves remains one of the most upscale destinations of the season, bringing together seven fine-dining restaurants and 16 high-end stores, offering visitors an exceptional luxury shopping and dining experience.

He confirmed that Riyadh Season 2025 places particular emphasis on theater, featuring a diverse selection of plays from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Syria. This reflects the diversity of Gulf and Arab culture, aiming to empower creators to present their work in a high-quality, competitive environment.

This year's concerts will be exceptional in scale and artistic depth, with major performances by leading Saudi and Gulf artists accompanied by Saudi musicians, showcasing the Kingdom's vibrant and evolving artistic scene.

On the artistic front, Riyadh Season will continue to host the prestigious Joy Awards 2026, one of the most significant entertainment awards in the region, celebrating excellence in drama, music, and the arts.

Among the season's major returning events are world-renowned tournaments such as the Six Kings Slam tennis championship, the Ring IV boxing event, and the WBC Grand Prix, whose qualifiers were held in Riyadh with participants from more than 40 countries. The season will also feature Snooker 167, the Kings Cup MENA, and the Saudi Masters Darts, along with the Fantastic Flag Football Classic, featuring NFL legend Tom Brady and global stars, scheduled for March 21, 2026, at the Kingdom Arena.

Alalshikh further announced the launch of new zones, including Boulevard Flowers, spanning 215,000 square meters and featuring over 200 million flowers, 200 floral sculptures, and three Boeing 777 aircraft, alongside 40 restaurants and cafés, forming a breathtaking artistic landscape that merges natural beauty with creativity. He also revealed that Anb Arena will host the Jewelry Salon Exhibition, an international showcase of luxury jewelry.

For the first time in its history, Riyadh Season will feature a floating entertainment zone named "Auria Cruise," offering a unique experience on the Red Sea. The cruise features 14 destinations, 29 restaurants and cafés, 10 spa and fitness facilities, and 20 entertainment areas, offering a fully integrated luxury leisure experience.

The season also aims to reach all segments of society through enhanced family-oriented content. Riyadh Zoo has been redeveloped to house over 1,600 animals from 170 species across six themed zones, providing educational and interactive experiences for families and children. Meanwhile, Al-Suwaidi Park will continue to showcase 13 diverse cultures, hosting countries such as Yemen, Sudan, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India through 49 concerts, 84 theater performances, and 100 cultural carnivals.

Alalshikh explained that the sixth edition of Riyadh Season continues to support the national economy by creating extensive job opportunities, exceeding 25,000 direct jobs and 100,000 indirect jobs across various fields, including operations, production, and services.

This reflects the season's commitment to empowering national talents, strengthening local supply chains, supporting Saudi companies, and fostering collaboration with government entities, all of which contribute to sectoral growth and sustainability, and elevating the quality of experiences offered to visitors from inside and outside the Kingdom.

In terms of social responsibility, Alalshikh said Riyadh Season pays special attention to community initiatives. The "Laylat Al-Omr" (Night of a Lifetime) initiative, held in collaboration with community service sponsors last year, achieved a significant humanitarian impact. He added that this year, the initiative will be reviewed and further developed for a future launch, with its details and timing to be announced later, in coordination with sponsors to ensure its enhanced success.

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Entertainment

Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys Merge Their Parallel Lives for ‘The Beast in Me’

This image released by Netflix shows Claire Danes, left, and Matthew Rhys in a scene from "The Beast in Me." (Netflix via AP)
This image released by Netflix shows Claire Danes, left, and Matthew Rhys in a scene from "The Beast in Me." (Netflix via AP)
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Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys Merge Their Parallel Lives for ‘The Beast in Me’

This image released by Netflix shows Claire Danes, left, and Matthew Rhys in a scene from "The Beast in Me." (Netflix via AP)
This image released by Netflix shows Claire Danes, left, and Matthew Rhys in a scene from "The Beast in Me." (Netflix via AP)

When prestige TV was first thought to be eclipsing movies, with quality scripts and meaty acting roles, two shows frequently bandied about were "Homeland" with Claire Danes and "The Americans" starring Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell.

Danes acknowledges other parallels with Rhys.

"I mean, you married an American lady, I married a British gentleman," she said, referring to her marriage to Hugh Dancy and Rhys’ partner, Russell.

"We’ve just been mirroring each other’s lives," added Rhys, noting that they also had children around the same time.

Danes and Rhys had never worked together, until now. They co-star in the new cat-and-mouse limited series, "The Beast in Me," streaming on Netflix.

Danes plays Aggie, a prickly Pulitzer prize-winning author who has a looming deadline for her second book and a major case of writers' block. She's also grieving the death of her young son and dissolution of her marriage soon after.

When Rhys' Nile, a real estate tycoon, moves in next door, his reputation precedes him because he was a suspect in his ex-wife’s disappearance. Nile's aggressive dogs and loud security alarm unnerves Aggie. He and his new wife try to charm the neighbors, but she's a tough nut to crack.

"You're not how I pictured you...at all," Nile says to Aggie in an early encounter. "On the page you're a lot more self-assured." Somehow he entices Aggie to have lunch and the ice between them begins to thaw.

"I think they’re both crazy smart and rarely encounter another person who thinks as quickly as they do. They’re kind of hyper-perceptive. And they kind of enjoy challenging each other," said Danes.

Although she doesn’t completely trust Nile, Aggie proposes she write a book about him to get his narrative out there.

"He goes, ‘Hang on, I can undo this kind of, you know, a societal scar that I’ve been living with, and I can possibly clear my name," said Rhys. "He foolishly thinks he could use Aggie in that sense."

"The Beast in Me" reunites Danes with some of the team who worked on "Homeland," including showrunner Howard Gordon.

When filming began, only three scripts had been written, so no one really knew what was going to happen. "We were all discovering the evolution of the story in real time," said Danes, who adds her history with the production team made her "trust them implicitly." Even Rhys was OK with the unknown because it served his portrayal of Nile.

"In a way it’s kind of liberating because then you’re only playing the present and what’s on the page in that moment," he said. "Sometimes I think when you do know the outcome, I have a tendency sometimes to kind of play into that or to do something ridiculous that flags it. So there’s freedom in the fact that you don’t know."

What they knew for sure was to lean into their character's unlikely chemistry.

"The pyrotechnics were pretty much contained within these sparring sessions. There is a little murder in there, but that’s not where the tension really lies. They are hiding a lot from each other. They’re playing each other but they also are forging a genuine intimacy and connection that unnerves both of them."

"I mean there’s actually nothing I enjoy more than that," she said.

Entertainment

Michelle Yeoh to Get Honorary Award at Berlin Film Fest

Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh poses with the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for "Everything Everywhere All at Once" during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on April 18, 2023. (AFP)
Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh poses with the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for "Everything Everywhere All at Once" during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on April 18, 2023. (AFP)
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Michelle Yeoh to Get Honorary Award at Berlin Film Fest

Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh poses with the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for "Everything Everywhere All at Once" during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on April 18, 2023. (AFP)
Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh poses with the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for "Everything Everywhere All at Once" during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on April 18, 2023. (AFP)

Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh will be honored with a lifetime achievement award at next year's Berlinale film festival, organizers said Friday.

Yeoh, 63, will receive the Honorary Golden Bear in recognition of her "outstanding achievements in film and cinema", the festival said in a statement.

"Michelle Yeoh is a visionary artist and performer whose work defies boundaries ‒ whether geographic, linguistic or cinematic," Berlinale director Tricia Tuttle said.

The award will be presented at the festival's opening ceremony in the German capital on February 12, 2026.

The Berlinale, running February 12-22, is Europe's first big cinema showcase of the year and ranks along with Cannes and Venice among the continent's top film festivals.

Yeoh was a member of the jury in 1999 and has appeared at the festival in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and more recently "Everything Everywhere All at Once".

"Berlin has always held a special place in my heart," she said, crediting the event as "one of the first festivals to embrace my work with such warmth and generosity".

Yeoh won the best actress Oscar in 2023 for her portrayal of Chinese-American laundromat owner Evelyn Wang in "Everything Everywhere All at Once" -- becoming the first Asian woman to win the award.

Her film credits stretch back to the 1980s, but her Hollywood breakthrough came when she was cast as the first ethnic Chinese Bond girl in 1997's "Tomorrow Never Dies" opposite Pierce Brosnan.

She also starred in the Oscar-winning 2000 martial arts film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", the 2005 period drama "Memoirs of a Geisha" and the 2018 romantic comedy "Crazy Rich Asians".

Last year's Honorary Golden Bear went to Scottish actress Tilda Swinton, with previous recipients including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.

Entertainment

Disney Streaming and Parks Shine in Fourth Quarter, but Some TV Networks, Movies Weaker

This image released by Disney shows the Silver Surfer, portrayed by Julia Garner, in a scene from "The Fantastic Four: First Steps." (Marvel/Disney via AP)
This image released by Disney shows the Silver Surfer, portrayed by Julia Garner, in a scene from "The Fantastic Four: First Steps." (Marvel/Disney via AP)
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Disney Streaming and Parks Shine in Fourth Quarter, but Some TV Networks, Movies Weaker

This image released by Disney shows the Silver Surfer, portrayed by Julia Garner, in a scene from "The Fantastic Four: First Steps." (Marvel/Disney via AP)
This image released by Disney shows the Silver Surfer, portrayed by Julia Garner, in a scene from "The Fantastic Four: First Steps." (Marvel/Disney via AP)

Disney's fourth-quarter performance was mixed as a weaker performance from its television networks and some films was buffered by strength in its streaming business and theme parks.

Disney is still trying to work out a new licensing deal with YouTube after its content went dark on YouTube TV late last month, leaving subscribers of the Google-owned live streaming platform without access to major networks like ESPN and ABC.

The Walt Disney Co. earned $1.31 billion, or 73 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 25. It earned $460 million, or 25 cents per share, in the prior-year period.

Stripping out one time charges and costs, earnings were $1.11 per share. That's better than the $1.03 per share that analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research predicted, The AP news reported.

Revenue for the Burbank, California, company totaled $22.46 billion, short of Wall Street’s estimate of $22.86 billion.

Revenue for Disney Entertainment, which includes the company’s movie studios and streaming service, dropped 6%, while revenue for the Experiences division, its parks, climbed 6%.

Operating income from linear networks dropped 21% and revenue slipped 16%. Disney said that the operating income decline was driven by the Star India transaction, as Star India contributed $84 million to its year-ago results. Operating income for domestic linear networks fell 7% due to lower advertising driven by declines in viewership and political advertising.

Disney said that its movie distribution results were weaker when compared with the same period last year, which was buoyed by “Deadpool & Wolverine” and spillover receipts from “Inside Out 2.” Films released during the most recent quarter included “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” “The Roses” and "Freakier Friday."

Disney’s direct-to-consumer business, which includes Disney+ and Hulu, posted quarterly operating income of $352 million compared with $253 million a year ago. Revenue rose 8%.

The Disney+ streaming service had a 3% increase in paid subscribers domestically, which includes the U.S. and Canada. There was a 4% rise internationally, which excludes Disney+ HotStar.

Total paid subscribers for Disney+ came to 132 million subscribers, up from 128 million in the third quarter.

Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions totaled 196 million, an increase of 12.4 million from the third quarter.

The strong streaming results come shortly after the entertainment company saw Disney+ and Hulu subscription cancellations climb in September when ABC briefly cancelled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!. ”

Data from subscription analytics company Antenna showed that Disney+ and Hulu subscription cancellations rose in September when ABC briefly cancelled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!.”

Walt Disney Co. owns the streaming platforms and ABC. ABC pulled the show off the air for less than a week in September in the wake of criticism over his comments related to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Prior to the incident, Disney had said in August that it anticipated that total fourth-quarter Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions would increase more than 10 million compared with the third quarter, with most of the increase coming from Hulu due to the expanded Charter deal. The company had also expected a modest increase in the number of Disney+ subscribers in the fourth quarter.

Disney also previously announced that it will stop reporting the number of paid subscribers for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ streaming services because the metric has become less meaningful for evaluating the performance of its businesses. The company will stop reporting the metric for Disney+ and Hulu beginning with fiscal 2026’s first quarter and no longer reports the figure for ESPN+ starting with fiscal 2025’s fourth quarter.

The Experiences division, which includes Disney’s six global theme parks, its cruise line, merchandise and video game licensing, reported operating income climbed 13% to $1.88 billion. Operating income increased 9% at domestic parks. Operating income surged 25% for international parks and Experiences.

Disney maintained its forecast for double-digit adjusted earnings per share growth for fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2027.

Disney's stock fell 5% before the market open on Thursday.