RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The audience strolled down the red carpet, fetched their popcorn and soda and filed into the cinema for a night at the movies.
It was a sight common around the world. But in the capital of ultraconservative Saudi Arabia, it was a watershed moment: the first opening of a commercial movie theater in more than 30 years.
The invitation-only screening of the Hollywood blockbuster “Black Panther” on Wednesday was part of a wider social opening in the kingdom championed by the 32-year-old crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
