Ahmed Helmy's film Hadouta takes top spot at Egypt's box office
The film took LE 3.614 million from 20,200 tickets sold in 60 cinemas on its opening day, Wednesday.
Hadouta (A Tale), starring Ahmed Helmy, claimed the number-one spot at the Egyptian box office on Wednesday, its opening day in theatres. The movie grossed approximately LE 3.614 million from 20,200 tickets sold across 60 cinemas.
The film is Helmy's return to the big screen after an absence of nearly four years, and pairs him for the first time with actress Amina Khalil. Helmy plays a thug who loses his memory and forgets where he hid a witness he had kidnapped, so he turns to a hypnotherapist, played by Khalil, to recover what happened.
During the promotion, Helmy said he consulted psychiatrists to prepare for the role, particularly around the character's childhood trauma and the loss of his parents at an early age. The film was written by Ahmed Abdel Rahman and directed by Mazen Ashraf, and also stars Rahma Ahmed, Khaled al-Sawy and Maged al-Masry.
Why it mattersCinema operators and producers now have a clear opening-day benchmark for Helmy's first film in nearly four years.