Over the past few years, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has spent billions of dollars on high-profile international entertainment events in a bid to bolster its international reputation.
Sources familiar with the matter affirmed that MBS spent a total of $180 million on filmmaking during the past two years.
MBS has already financed 168 movies, the sources added.
Riyadh is now seeing more than $64 billion in entertainment investment, with a significant proportion of that going to the live music industry.
In 2020, Riyadh spent $13.3 billion to promote entertainment, health, sports and education.
The shocking reports on MBS’s huge spending on film making have drowned sharp criticism among Saudis.
Saudi Arabia has long been accused of using sport and entertainment to whitewash its poor human rights record at home and abroad.
Despite this growing economic crisis, MBS is investing hundreds of billions in international entertainment and sports events.
MBS was widely named as the “Gamer Prince” after hosting the international eSport gamers forum “Next World” this month.
Much like with Formula One and professional golf, the world’s biggest oil exporter has in recent years leveraged its immense wealth to assert itself on the eSports stage, hosting glitzy conferences and snapping up established tournament organisers, the report said.
In January, the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund launched the Savvy Gaming Group, which acquired top eSports firms ESL Gaming and FACEIT in deals reportedly worth a total of $1.5 billion.
Film industry isn’t the only way that the Kingdom is attempting to improve its public image. The country has enlisted the aid of online influencers to bolster its reputation and help make it more of a tourist destination.
MBS has been paying well-known influencers to vacation in the kingdom to boost his image worldwide.
To rebrand from an oppressive regime to a luxurious cultural hub, the Saudi Arabian government is paying influencers to vacation in the kingdom,
