عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Entertainment

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)
TT
TT

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.

Most Viewed

 
 
Entertainment

Spielberg Teases New Alien Film 'Disclosure Day' as 'More Truth Than Fiction'

FILE PHOTO: Steven Spielberg, winner of the MPA America250 Award, speaks during the Universal Pictures and Focus Features presentation at CinemaCon, the official convention of Cinema United, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, April 15, 2026. REUTERS/Caroline Brehman/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Steven Spielberg, winner of the MPA America250 Award, speaks during the Universal Pictures and Focus Features presentation at CinemaCon, the official convention of Cinema United, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, April 15, 2026. REUTERS/Caroline Brehman/File Photo
TT
TT

Spielberg Teases New Alien Film 'Disclosure Day' as 'More Truth Than Fiction'

FILE PHOTO: Steven Spielberg, winner of the MPA America250 Award, speaks during the Universal Pictures and Focus Features presentation at CinemaCon, the official convention of Cinema United, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, April 15, 2026. REUTERS/Caroline Brehman/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Steven Spielberg, winner of the MPA America250 Award, speaks during the Universal Pictures and Focus Features presentation at CinemaCon, the official convention of Cinema United, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, April 15, 2026. REUTERS/Caroline Brehman/File Photo

Steven Spielberg described his 1977 UFO film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" as his own "speculation" about intelligent life on other planets.

His new alien movie, "Disclosure Day," will offer what Spielberg believes is "more truth than fiction," the veteran filmmaker told theater operators on Wednesday at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas.

The maker of "E.T." and 2005's "War of the Worlds" said he decided to journey back into the extraterrestrial realm after reading a 2017 ⁠New York Times ⁠report about US military pilots who reported seeing mysterious flying objects.

"I really, truly believe this movie is going to answer questions," Spielberg said of "Disclosure Day.And this movie is also going to cause you to ask a lot of questions."

"All you need to get from the beginning ⁠to the end is a seat belt," he teased, without elaborating on the plot.

Footage shown to the CinemaCon crowd gave a brief glimpse of an alien leaning over a human child. The film stars Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colman Domingo and Colin Firth.

"Disclosure Day" will be released by Universal Pictures in June, Reuters reported.

Universal also brought out another acclaimed director, Christopher Nolan, to promote his upcoming film "The Odyssey." The movie, set to debut in July, is based on Homer's epic ⁠about a Greek ⁠king trying to return home after the Trojan War.

"The Odyssey is a story that has fascinated generation after generation for 3,000 years," he said. "It is not a story. It's the story."

The "Oppenheimer" director said "The Odyssey" was "an absolute nightmare to film, but in all the right ways."

Star Matt Damon, who plays Odysseus, endured rough conditions throughout the project, Nolan said.

"He was just there, out there on the boats, up in the mountains, in the caves, in beating sunshine, in sideways rain, wind," he said.

"It's meant to be difficult. That's the nature of the story."

Entertainment

Tom Cruise Touts ‘Wild’ Dark Comedy ‘Digger’ to Theater Owners

Cast member Tom Cruise and director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu of the upcoming film "Digger" react during the Warner Bros. Pictures presentation at CinemaCon, the official convention of Cinema United, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, April 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Cast member Tom Cruise and director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu of the upcoming film "Digger" react during the Warner Bros. Pictures presentation at CinemaCon, the official convention of Cinema United, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, April 14, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Tom Cruise Touts ‘Wild’ Dark Comedy ‘Digger’ to Theater Owners

Cast member Tom Cruise and director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu of the upcoming film "Digger" react during the Warner Bros. Pictures presentation at CinemaCon, the official convention of Cinema United, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, April 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Cast member Tom Cruise and director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu of the upcoming film "Digger" react during the Warner Bros. Pictures presentation at CinemaCon, the official convention of Cinema United, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, April 14, 2026. (Reuters)

Tom Cruise said he took four decades of acting to get to a place where he could play the eccentric oil tycoon at the center of an upcoming dark comedy, "Digger."

Cruise introduced the first images from the movie on Tuesday at the CinemaCon convention of theater owners in Las Vegas.

They showed the 63-year-old transformed into the character Digger Rockwell, an older man with thinning gray hair, a beer belly, a Southern accent and a fondness ‌for cats.

In ‌the movie, Rockwell inadvertently unleashes an ecological disaster that ‌carries ⁠the world to ⁠the brink of nuclear war, before scrambling to try and save the planet.

"It took 40 years to be able to put on the boots of Digger Rockwell and play the many, many layers of this character," Cruise said. "The movie is wild, it's funny, and I can't wait for you all to see it."

The Warner Bros movie is set ⁠to debut in theaters in October.

Cruise was joined on ‌stage by the film's director, four-time Oscar ‌winner Alejandro Inarritu.

The maker of "Birdman" and "The Revenant" said he and Cruise first discussed ‌the film seven years ago.

Cruise, who was filming "Top Gun: Maverick" ‌at the time, said he had been an admirer of Inarritu's films and rushed over to the director's house on his motorcycle when he asked to meet.

"We know that he is fearless: the stunts, the planes, the jumps," Inarritu ‌said of Cruise. "But I have to say, I think this is another kind of fearless. This ⁠role possibly could ⁠be (his) most challenging," adding, "It was a high-wire act."

Cruise kicked off a celebrity-studded presentation of upcoming films from Warner Bros, the studio coming off a year of commercial success and 11 Oscars. It is in the process of being sold to Paramount Skydance in $110-billion deal.

Zendaya, Timothee Chalamet and Jason Momoa touted "Dune: Part Three," the conclusion to the sci-fi series due for release in December. The film is set 17 years after the events of the second "Dune" movie.

"The years don't seem to have been kind to anyone on Dune," Zendaya said, explaining where the series picks up. "It's been a really difficult, challenging, ungentle and unkind few years, and I think there's so much left still to fight for."

Entertainment

Billy Crystal Will Return to Broadway in One-Man Show About the House He Lost to LA Wildfires

Billy Crystal arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 2, 2025, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)
Billy Crystal arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 2, 2025, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)
TT
TT

Billy Crystal Will Return to Broadway in One-Man Show About the House He Lost to LA Wildfires

Billy Crystal arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 2, 2025, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)
Billy Crystal arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 2, 2025, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)

Billy Crystal will return to Broadway this fall in a very intimate one-man show that will take the audience into his family's longtime Los Angeles home that was leveled in wildfires.

“860,” written and performed by the Tony- and Emmy-winner, will begin previews this October at a theater to be revealed later. The title comes from the street address for the home Crystal and his family lived in for 46 years, a house lost in last year's devastating Palisades fires.

“I invite you to come inside 860 and I’ll tell you all the funny and touching things that happened there, not only in my career but to our family,” Crystal said in a statement. “It’s a joyous and heartfelt visit, about how with the love of family and friends and your inner strength, you can get through tough times.”

This is Crystal’s first return to Broadway following his “Mr. Saturday Night,” which he premiered in 2022 and earned Tony nominations for best book and lead actor in a musical. Scott Ellis will direct his new work.

Crystal has had success with one-man shows before. He turned his memoir “700 Sundays” into a stage show — in 2004 and revived in 2013 — that won him a Drama Desk Award in 2005.

The Palisades and Eaton fires erupted in Jan. 7, 2025, killing 31 people and destroying about 13,000 homes and other residential properties. The fires burned for more than three weeks and clean-up efforts took about seven months.

At the televised fundraising concert FireAid, held at the end of January 2025, Crystal appeared as the first host in the same clothes he was wearing when he fled his family home.

Crystal said he returned to the wreckage of his home and began to wail: “I had not cried like that since I was 15 and I was told that my father had just died.” His daughters soon found a rock in the wreckage with the word “Laughter” engraved in it.

Crystal made a name for himself first in comedy, from stand-up to TV’s “Soap” to the films “When Harry Met Sally” and “City Slickers.” Then in 1992, he got serious with the movie “Mr. Saturday Night,” which he directed, co-wrote and starred in.