“People used to travel and spend money outside Saudi Arabia for entertainment. Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy. 86,294, This story has been shared 78,076 times. It’s unclear how many clams Aquaman will collect, but the Hawaiian-born actor usually charges upwards of $200,000 an appearance, according to the All American Speakers Bureau. “A lot of these giant corporate entities have business with countries around the world, Saudi Arabia or China, and they’re just not going to criticize them and they’re not going to let their shows criticize them or they’re not going to air documentaries that go deep into truthful areas because they make so much money,” Apatow told the MSNBC host. All Rights reserved. Emanuel attended last year since he was courting Saudi investment. During the Mavericks with Ari Melber conversation, The King of Staten Island helmer said that people should turn their attention to the “corporate type of censorship” that happens to films when presented in content-strict countries including China, Saudi Arabia and North Korea. Global Opinions editor, writing on international affairs and social issues, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Paris on April 9, 2018.
The entertainment industry is one of the sectors hardest hit by the global pandemic. But the opening to Western culture, and plans to develop a domestic entertainment industry, do represent significant liberalizing moves. Read Next: Tokyo Disneyland’s Beauty and the Beast Area to Open After Delay, Hollywood Writers Urged to Back Democratic Senate Candidates, Marvin Davis’ Grandson in Family Feud Over Palantir Stock, Bryan Callen Sues Rape Accuser’s Husband, Alleging Blacklist Campaign, Megan Thee Stallion Responds to Tory Lanez's Denial That He Shot Her, ‘Batwoman’ Star Javicia Leslie Unveils First Look at Batsuit, Chadwick Boseman Gave Some of His ’21 Bridges’ Salary to Co-Star Sienna Miller, Countdown to Cover: BTS Talks ‘Dynamite’ Chart Success Ahead of Wednesday Reveal, Takeuchi Yuko Death Remains a Mystery for Japan, ‘The Witcher’ Recasts Eskel Role With Basil Eidenbenz for Season 2, BTS to Release New Album, ‘BE (Deluxe Edition),’ in November, Roku Unveils Redesigned $100 Ultra Streaming Box, Will Add Ability to Stream HBO Max via Apple AirPlay, ‘Monday Night Football’ is More Than a Game for Disney in NFL Rights Scramble, Trump Administration Likely Exceeded Legal Authority With TikTok Ban, Judge Rules, Chadwick Boseman Gave Some of His '21 Bridges' Salary to Co-Star Sienna Miller, Trump Administration Likely Exceeded Legal Authority With TikTok Ban, Judge Rules, 9 Most Meaningful Moments of Mariah Carey’s Memoir, Hollywood Should Tell More Honest Abortion Stories to End the Stigma (Opinion), Megan Thee Stallion Responds to Tory Lanez's Denial That He Shot Her, Kacey Musgraves Giddy Ups Out of Her Nashville Bungalow, Watch Mastodon, Russian Circles Members Cover Alice in Chains, Watch: Mercedes-Benz’s Insane ‘Avatar’-Inspired Concept Is Controlled by a ‘Breathing’ Center Console, Lisa Leslie and Chiney Ogwumike to Host New Podcast for Blue Wire, This Year, Cure the Winter Blues With a SAD Lamp. “Hollywood’s business in Saudi Arabia has been somewhat of a smoke screen,” said one veteran studio executive. Although cinemas have been banned for a generation, Saudis are entertainment savvy. There is no doubt that artists and those who work in the entertainment industry are suffering badly from the economic fallout of the novel coronavirus and stay-at-home orders. Corporations did play a positive role in pressuring for change in apartheid South Africa, but that was only through establishing concrete goals and coordinated campaigns with other businesses. “Instead of us doing business with China and that leading to China being more free, what has happened is that China has bought our silence with their money.”. It’s not yet clear that such gestures will be sustained over the long term. The coronavirus has brought America’s economy to its knees. And in another development that points to broader reverberations in Hollywood likely to be prompted by Saudi Arabia’s cinematic impetus, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and Beirut-based company Milestones have just signed a deal to license the Walk of Fame in the Middle East. The NBA’s siding with China and tamping down on expressions for support of Hong Kong pro-democracy protests is just one recent example. “No one would buy the pitch,” he said.