Accepted Hollywood wisdom has traditionally had a number of unshakeable 'truths'.
Some of these are Brits make the best bad guys; the good guys always win (except in the middle of a trilogy where the redemption offered at the end will be even sweeter for the despair audiences felt on exiting part two); women are too often seen but not heard (a recent BBC study revealed the shocking lack of dialogue historically given to female characters in Best Picture Oscar-winning movies), and movies with black casts don't make money.
Said Hollywood 'wisdom' (we use that term very loosely) has just been turned on its head, however. Last Saturday, after 26 days in cinemas, Ryan Coogler's more-than-a-Marvel-movie Black Panther planted itself firmly on Billionaire's Row, having taken over a billion dollars at the global box office (Dh3.67 billion).
The film is the 33rd to do so, an impressive 16th billion-dollar-baby for Disney, and the seventh super hero movie to clear nine zeroes – five of them Marvel outings.
Coogler's movie, which stars Chadwick Boseman as the eponymous hero, and king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda, also used the weekend to leapfrog The Dark Knight in its domestic US market, making it the second-highest-grossing super hero movie at US box offices ever, behind The Avengers – for now.
Plus, the movie only opened last weekend in the world’s second biggest market, China, and full weekend figures weren’t yet available at the time of writing. The vast Wakandan sky, truly, is the limit.
What about in the UAE?
Black Panther is already the highest grossing film of 2018 in UAE cinemas. It has spent all four weeks since its release atop the local box office charts, and is currently the third highest grossing Marvel Cinematic Universe movie on UAE screens to date, and it's only been on release here for three weeks.
No one at the major cinema chains or Disney wanted to hazard a guess as to how long the film/phenomenon will hang around cinemas in the MENA region and the UAE, but the general feeling seemed to be that if audiences keep coming, the film will keep screening. Right now, with the film still sitting in its seemingly unassailable #1 slot at the UAE box office, there’s no sign of audiences going anywhere.
Part superhero yarn, part socio-political diatribe and part historic moment - the movie is, above all, a whole load of fun, and UAE audiences seem to agree.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Secret Pigeon Service: Operation Colomba, Resistance and the Struggle to Liberate Europe
Gordon Corera, Harper Collins
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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LAST 16
SEEDS
Liverpool, Manchester City, Barcelona, Paris St-Germain, Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Valencia, Juventus
PLUS
Real Madrid, Tottenham, Atalanta, Atletico Madrid, Napoli, Borussia Dortmund, Lyon, Chelsea
Company profile
Date started: Founded in May 2017 and operational since April 2018
Founders: co-founder and chief executive, Doaa Aref; Dr Rasha Rady, co-founder and chief operating officer.
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: Health-tech
Size: 22 employees
Funding: Seed funding
Investors: Flat6labs, 500 Falcons, three angel investors
Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
Ferrari
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More on animal trafficking
EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 310hp
Torque: 366Nm
Price: Dh200,000
