“Hassan El Masry” ranked second in the Egyptian box office in the first week, with revenues estimated at over EGP2 million.
Starred by Egyptian actor Ahmad Hatem and the two Lebanese actresses Diamand Bou Abboud and Lina Sophia, the film is a new experience with an Egyptian-Lebanese team that also includes actors Jad Abu Ali, Jennifer Azar, Murad Karam, and Ferial Youssef from Tunisia.
Story of Noora Labib, "Hassan El Masry" was written by Samar Taher, and produced by Misr International Films.
It’s the company’s third work with Lebanese filmmaker Samir Habshi. The two former collaborations were the documentary “Lady of the Palace” and feature film “Smoke without Fire”.
The film hit cinemas on October 4, in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region. It revolves around Hassan, also known as "El Masry", who works for a private security company, and lives in guilt after he lost his mother and sister; he travels to Lebanon to escape his past, where he works in a security company too, but gets involved with arms traffickers and embarks on a dangerous mission.
Producer Gabi Khoury said he is delighted with what the film accomplished in its first week. “Most of the events take place in Lebanon, where most of the scenes were shot. The screening started on the same date in all Arab countries including Lebanon,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat, noting that “the political developments in the region, namely the war in Gaza, will affect the revenues of all the currently-screening films.”
Film critic Tarek al-Shennawi sees that the idea behind "Hassan El Masry" is focused on its screening in Egypt and Lebanon, especially that the producer is Lebanese. He also praised the experience that allowed every actor to speak their native accent, noting that “it’s an important thing, so the Egyptian audience becomes accustomed to the Lebanese accent, especially that the Lebanese people are already used to the Egyptian accent.”
“The box office is the decisive indicator. An actor becomes a star when their films make huge revenues in the market. Hasan El Masry movie ranked second in the Egyptian box office, and I am not sure it’s going to make it in Lebanon. So, the work is no more than just a movie that entertains the audience,” he concluded.
