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Caracalla Dance Theater Takes ‘Jamil and Bouthayna’ to Jeddah

Ancient Nabataean carved rock tombs near AlUla. AFP
Ancient Nabataean carved rock tombs near AlUla. AFP
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Caracalla Dance Theater Takes ‘Jamil and Bouthayna’ to Jeddah

Ancient Nabataean carved rock tombs near AlUla. AFP
Ancient Nabataean carved rock tombs near AlUla. AFP

After AlUla, where the story of Jamil ibn Ma'mar and Bouthayna Bint Hayyan was born, and the Theater of Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh, in June 2022, the Caracalla Dance Theatre plans to perform the Arabic epic love story of Jamil and Bouthayna in Jeddah, on “The Jamil and Bouthayna Theater” established by the ministry of culture.

Scheduled between 9 and 13 February at 9 pm, the five-show play is starred by Amal Bouchoucha (Bouthayna) and Samer Ismail (Jamil) alongside many esteemed figures including Huda Haddad, Joseph Azar, Simon Obeid, Gabriel Yamine, Aleco Daoud, and Saudi stars Abdul Nasser Al Zair, Abdul Hadi al-Shatri, Hassan Abdullah al-Ali, and Amal Ramadan.

Directed by Ivan Caracalla and choreographed by Alissar Caracalla, the show takes its spectators to a beautiful Arabic time, and tells the story of a pure love between Jamil and Bouthayna.

The couple’s first encounter in Wadi al-Qura started with a dispute that later turned into an eternal love bond.

People gossiped about the couple, the father of Bouthayna heard and the rage filled her tribe, so they had to separate. Old Arab traditions stated that a girl’s reputation lies in her beauty and decency, and a poet who hails her beauty in his poetry, would never be accepted.

The tribe of Bouthayna refused to start a clash with the tribe of Jamil, but when they failed to stop him, they pledged to hold him accountable and complained to the Wali, who decided to kill him.

Days passed and grief filled Jamil’s heart, the space of AlUla couldn’t contain his sadness especially after Bouthayna’s father decided to marry her to another man who’s accepted by her tribe. At the time, Jamil decided to leave to Damascus, to the palace of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, where poets and poetry are highly respected, and where he met the Umayyad poetry trio: Jarir, Al-Farazdaq, and Al-Akhtal.

Carrying his longing, bitterness, and wait, Jamil continued his journey, and travelled from Damascus to Egypt, leaving his heart in AlUla. He didn’t like the palace life he was granted in Egypt, and preferred spending times with the gypsies.

From the Nile Valley, he sent his will to Bouthayna, in AlUla, to say goodbye with poetry that immortalized their love.

Back to the present, to Saudi Arabia which has become an oasis of art and creativity with all the development, advancement, and knowledge, the new theater in Jeddah is set to host a large celebration that highlights the human unity embodying cultural diversities between nations.

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Entertainment

Louvre Heist to Be Turned into Film

The Louvre Museum seen in Paris, France, November 17, 2025. (Reuters)
The Louvre Museum seen in Paris, France, November 17, 2025. (Reuters)
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Louvre Heist to Be Turned into Film

The Louvre Museum seen in Paris, France, November 17, 2025. (Reuters)
The Louvre Museum seen in Paris, France, November 17, 2025. (Reuters)

Last year's brazen robbery of the Louvre -- when thieves made off with jewellery worth some $100 million -- is set to become a movie, a publisher said on Tuesday.

French director Romain Gavras -- whose work includes 2025 Hollywood film "Sacrifice" starring Anya Taylor-Joy and music videos including most recently a hypnotic schoolboy choreography for GENER8ION -- will draw inspiration from the investigative book "Main basse sur le Louvre" (literally "A grab at the Louvre").

Film rights to the book about the October 19, 2025 heist had been sold to the production company Iconoclast, the Flammarion publishing house said.

The book, written by three journalists, from French dailies Le Parisien and Le Monde, and weekly glossy magazine Paris Match, is to hit bookstores on Wednesday.

According to trade magazine Le Film Francais, the movie project is in development, though neither the title nor the cast has been announced.

The Louvre heist sent shockwaves around the world and sparked a security crisis within the world-famous museum that ultimately led to the replacement of its director, Laurence des Cars.

After seven months of investigation, and despite the arrests of the main suspects, the jewels have still not been found.

The authors said their apparent disappearance "has become a dense mystery, a puzzle that has plunged investigators into deep confusion".

The heist illustrates how "the theft of artworks has become a business like any other for many criminals", they say. "The criminal underworld has found a new cash cow."

Entertainment

'Spider-Noir' Brings a Mature Superhero to the Small Screen

Nicolas Cage stars in the new series "Spider-Noir". Michael loccisano / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Nicolas Cage stars in the new series "Spider-Noir". Michael loccisano / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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'Spider-Noir' Brings a Mature Superhero to the Small Screen

Nicolas Cage stars in the new series "Spider-Noir". Michael loccisano / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Nicolas Cage stars in the new series "Spider-Noir". Michael loccisano / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

While stars of the Spider-Man franchise have trended younger over the years -- from Tobey Maguire to Andrew Garfield to Tom Holland -- the new series "Spider-Noir" starring Nicolas Cage explores a more mature version of the web-slinging superhero.

Premiering on Amazon's streaming platform this week, the series follows Ben Reilly (Cage), a private investigator struggling to make ends meet in New York during the Great Depression, said AFP.

This marks the first time the superhero, whom Cage voiced in the first Spider-Verse film, has appeared on screen in live-action.

Karen Rodriguez, who plays Janet, Riley's loyal secretary, said that what sets "Spider-Noir" apart from other versions of the superhero is the era in which it is set.

"Normally, it's a coming-of-age story, and we're meeting Peter Parker in a youthful setting," she told AFP. "But what happens when you've done it and life has happened to you and you suffered loss?"

Reilly, a World War I veteran who can't even afford to pay his secretary, is burdened by personal tragedy.

"He's lost the love of his life. He's smack dab in the middle of the Great Depression. There's a lot of suffering," Rodriguez added.

For the actress, whose character maintains a constant push and pull with Reilly, working with Cage "was like a dream come true."

Rodriguez said she learned a lot from the 62-year-old Oscar-winning actor, who has over a hundred films to his credit.

"It's the type of job that you dream about because you want jobs that are going to make you better," said Rodriguez, who describes her character as a strong-willed woman who doesn't mince words.

"Spider-Noir," produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, among others, can be seen in color or black and white, in a nod to the film noir genre of the 1940s.

"It's a wholly unique perspective," said Rodriguez, who sees the style as an "exciting" alternative for telling a superhero story.

The genre is related to "what kind of danger is looking around the corner," she said. "And even the visual elements of noir, I think are so evocative, the way that the camera is framed."

"You understand that the world you're never really safe, and we really see it in the black and white, because we're seeing people in shadow or in light, and the shadow is always there."

"Spider-Noir" also features performances by Lamorne Morris, Li Jun Li and Brendan Gleeson, who plays a mobster villain.

Entertainment

Disney’s New ‘Star Wars’ Film Opens with an Estimated $165 Million Worldwide

Cast member Pedro Pascal attends a premiere for the film “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” at TCL Chinese theatre in Los Angeles, California, US, May 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Cast member Pedro Pascal attends a premiere for the film “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” at TCL Chinese theatre in Los Angeles, California, US, May 14, 2026. (Reuters)
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Disney’s New ‘Star Wars’ Film Opens with an Estimated $165 Million Worldwide

Cast member Pedro Pascal attends a premiere for the film “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” at TCL Chinese theatre in Los Angeles, California, US, May 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Cast member Pedro Pascal attends a premiere for the film “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” at TCL Chinese theatre in Los Angeles, California, US, May 14, 2026. (Reuters)

New "Star Wars" film "The Mandalorian and Grogu" is expected to end the US Memorial Day weekend with roughly $165 million in worldwide ticket sales, distributor Walt Disney said ‌on Sunday.

About $102 ‌million of that ‌total ⁠will come from ⁠the United States and Canada, Disney said. The domestic total exceeds pre-weekend forecasts but is the lowest opening for any "Star Wars" ⁠movie released by Disney.

The ‌first "Star ‌Wars" movie in seven years ‌tells the story of a ‌helmeted bounty hunter and his sidekick, nicknamed Baby Yoda by fans. The duo debuted ‌on the small screen in the Disney+ streaming series "The ⁠Mandalorian" ⁠in 2019.

Disney's lowest-grossing "Star Wars" film, "Solo: A Star Wars Story," brought in $103 million over Memorial Day weekend in 2018 and was considered a flop. The "Grogu" movie, however, had a smaller budget than most other "Star Wars" movies, of about $165 million.