The Saudi Arabian action thriller "7 Dogs," which tells the story of an international crime syndicate smuggling a deadly new drug called "Pink Lady" across the Middle East, and stars Monica Bellucci as Giulia Leoni, the head of the drug distribution network, grossed an impressive $7 million-plus in its opening weekend in the Middle East and North Africa, becoming one of the highest-grossing Arab films of all time.
The action-packed thriller from Belgian-Moroccan directorial duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, whose 2020 blockbuster Bad Boys for Life became the highest-grossing film in the Bad Boys franchise, attracted a massive influx of Arab audiences during the Muslim Eid holiday weekend of May 28-31, according to Comscore and other box office tracking companies.
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In Saudi Arabia, "7 Dogs" attracted over 200,000 viewers, followed by Egypt with over 720,000, while in the UAE, the action-packed thriller attracted approximately 87,000 people. In Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, and Lebanon, "7 Dogs" generated approximately 91,000 additional ticket sales, "highlighting the unprecedented regional demand for this action-packed thriller and its status as a major theatrical event," the statement said.
The opening weekend figures for 7 Dogs in Saudi Arabia are comparable to the number of viewers who flocked to cinemas in July 2025 to see the frenetic crime thriller The Gold Heist, which, in turn, outsold global blockbusters Jurassic World: Resurgence and The Fast and the Furious 1 Movie.
The release of 7 Dogs follows the abject failure of Desert Warrior, the $150 million Saudi Arabian blockbuster starring Anthony Mackie, which recently grossed just $700,000 in the US and the Arab world in two weeks after its April 23 release.
In Saudi Arabia, 7 Dogs, by contrast, drew three times as many viewers as Behind the Scenes and more than four times as many as Obsession, easily beating out two low-budget American horror films that were becoming global box office sensations.
"7 Dogs" was filmed in the desert outside Riyadh earlier this year with an official budget of $40 million, believed to have ballooned to $70 million. Before its release, the local blockbuster achieved notoriety for earning a Guinness World Record for the "biggest explosion in film history," surpassing previous record holders No Time to Die (2021) and Spectre (2015).
The film, which stars Arab box office stars Karim Abdel Aziz and Ahmed Ezz, and features a stellar cast including Monica Bellucci, Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Max Huang, Tara Emad, Sandy Bella, Nasser Alkassabi, and Saeed Ragab, marks the first Arabic-language film to be released in the immersive ScreenX format, alongside premieres in IMAX, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, and other premium big-screen formats in the region.
Based on an original story by Turki Alalshih, Chairman of the Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority (GEA), and written by Mohamed El-Dabah, 7 Dogs follows elite Interpol officer Khalid Al-Azzazi as he captures Ghali Abu Dawood, a high-ranking member of a secret global crime syndicate known as the 7 Dogs.
When the 7 Dogs syndicate resurfaces a year later, "selling a powerful new drug called Pink Lady throughout the Middle East, Khalid is forced into an uneasy alliance with Ghali, who holds the key to dismantling the network from within," the synopsis reads. "Their secret mission spans multiple cities across the globe, creating a volatile partnership driven by intelligence, rivalry, and the desire for survival," the text adds.
Produced by Sela Studios with support from GEA and Riyadh Season, "7 Dogs" was shot entirely in Riyadh, becoming the first feature film to be produced entirely at the brand-new Al-Hisn Big Time Studios in the Saudi Arabian capital. Riyadh was transformed into world-class locations, including Mumbai, Shanghai, and other major international cities.
While "7 Dogs" is undoubtedly a hit with domestic audiences, experts say the lighthearted action film is unlikely to turn a profit unless it releases internationally. Even if it does, achieving profitability will be challenging. There is currently no international distributor.
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