Asad versus 7 Dogs: Two starkly different movies compete to be the summer Arab blockbuster Submitted by Joseph Fahim on Fri, 06/26/2026 - 09:28 A historical epic takes on a Bad Boys style action romp in what our critic describes as the Barbenheimer of Arab cinema Ahmed Ezz stars as Khalid, described by his colleagues as the 'star of Interpol' (Black Bear) Off It’s the Barbenheimer of the Arab box office: the two biggest summer blockbusters are locked in a frenzied battle for the soul of regional cinema . In one corner is Asad , the highly anticipated new feature from Moon Knight director Mohammed Diab , starring Mohammed Ramadan, the reigning king of Arab television. In the other is 7 Dogs , the big-budget, Saudi -financed action comedy directed by Bad Boys duo Adil El el-Arbi and Bilall Fallah and headlined by Egypt’s two biggest box-office stars, Karim Abdel Aziz and Ahmed Ezz, alongside Monica Bellucci, Salman Khan and Martin Lawrence.