VOX Cinemas, the dedicated cinema arm of Majid Al Futtaim, the leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East and Africa is introducing CTRL, the region’s first interactive movie experience which allows the audience to collectively decide how the plot unfolds. The latest innovation from VOX Cinemas in partnership with entertainment and tech company, Kino Industries, will launch across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 05 August.
CTRL will be showing Late Shift (R18), the world’s first interactive feature-length film, which enables cinemagoers to decide the fate of the lead character and the course of the movie using a simple voting system on an App. During the screening of the high stakes action thriller, which has countless storylines consisting of 180 decision points and seven alternative endings, the audience typically makes 40-50 choices while cutting-edge and seamless technology aggregates the votes and chooses the most popular option. Late Shift was directed and co-written by Tobias Weber, an award-winning filmmaker and a Co-Founder of Kino Industries and Michael Robert Johnson, author of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. The critically acclaimed movie was awarded the 2018 BAFTA Cymru Award.
Mohamed Al Hashemi, Country Head, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Majid Al Futtaim Leisure, Entertainment, Cinemas and Lifestyle said, “We are incredibly excited to join forces with Kino Industries and introduce an interactive movie experience to VOX Cinemas, which is the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia. Taking technological innovation to the next level, this new concept gives our audience real-time collaborative influence over the plot of the movie for a more personalised experience. CTRL seamlessly combines the realism and production values of film with the interactivity of a videogame to create a new dimension of engagement. Saudi is a nation of movie lovers with a thriving community of gamers and I have no doubt that this unique and exhilarating participatory experience will prove hugely popular with audiences across the Kingdom. At VOX Cinemas, we believe in the experience of going to a cinema, which drives us to continuously look at new ways of diversifying our offering by introducing world-class and pioneering concepts which exceed our discerning guests’ expectations.”
Chady Eli Mattar, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Kino Industries added, “We are thrilled to be teaming up with VOX Cinemas on this exciting venture. For us, they represent the epitome of a contemporary exhibitor – they are bold, innovative, forward thinkers, and we at Kino share a similar DNA! Thus, this partnership will be setting the standards of the future of cinema experiences in the region.”
The daily screenings of Late Shift will take place at 6pm and 10pm (Sunday – Saturday) at VOX Cinemas at Riyadh Front, Sahara, Al Qasr, Riyadh Park, Town Square, Red Sea Mall and The Roof. The experience will also be rolled-out across select VOX Cinemas in the United Arab Emirates.
VOX Cinemas has been awarded ‘Best Cinema Experience’ at the MENALAC Awards for two years running (2019 and 2020).
Tickets for Late Shift are now on sale and can be purchased on the VOX Cinemas website (voxcinemas.com), app or at the ticket counter at any VOX Cinemas. The movie will be shown in English with Arabic subtitles.
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