'King's Speech' gets 300% Oscar boost at UAE box office

British film ‘The King’s Speech’ has seen UAE ticket sales soar 300 percent after its Oscar win, but is still lagging Hollywood blockbuster ‘Big Mamma’s House 3’, film promoters have said.

The movie, starring Colin Firth, made its debut at the 2010 Dubai International Film Festival and has earned $473,784 during its four-week run in the Gulf state.

But despite sweeping the board at the film industry’s most prestigious event, ‘The King’s Speech’ is still being floored in the UAE by a comedy about cross-dressing FBI agents.

‘Big Momma’s House 3’ earned AED1,801,645 ($490,490) in its first week of release and attracted nearly 54,000 admissions, data from promoters Italia Film shows.

By comparison, 45,000 people have bought tickets to see the historical drama in the last month, putting it at No.11 in the UAE box office listings.

But general manager John Chahine said the historical drama had outstripped expectations, after being forecast to achieve a maximum of 15,000 admissions in the UAE.

No independent film has ever exceeded 20,000 ticket sales in the Gulf state, he said.

“Due to the Oscars and Dubai International Film Festival opening coverage, we reached 45,000 admits, which is huge for us. An Oscar movie has never done 150 percent or more than normal prediction… so we are very pleased,” Chahine said.

On an international scale, boxofficemojo.com reports ‘The King’s Speech’ has earned $310.2m worldwide since it release on November 26, 2010.

‘Big Momma’s House 3’ has raked in $51m since its release on February 18.