Henedy back with Said Hamed
 

A few months after the release of his latest film Nabil El-Gamil Akhisaay Tagmeel in the New Year season, comedy hero Mohamed Henedy is powerfully entering the summer-season race, backed by his biggest hits maker director Said Hamed.

Reuniting almost two decades since their last collaboration, the duo introduced unforgettable hits; from Saeidi Fil Gameaa El-Amerikeya (1998) to Hamam Fi Amsterdam (1999), Gana El-Bian El-Taly (2001), Saheb Sahbo (2002) and Yana Ya Khalti (2005).

Written by Ihab Nabil, Marei El-Breemo is produced by Target Productions, the company that is also behind some of Henedy’s biggest successes.

Henedy, 58, is teaming up with an arsenal of comedians like Ghada Adel, Mohamed Mahmoud, Alaa Morsy, Mostafa Abu-Sriea and Injy Ali, as well as experienced actors Ahmed Bedeir and Lotfy Labib.

This weekend; Sharmoofers band released Tabtabli; a song from the film in which they featured Henedy singing from his character.

Henedy portrays Marei, a watermelon merchant who is kidnapped by his grandfather and sent back to his home village in Upper Egypt where he learns that he has inherited a fortune of diamonds. Marei hides the diamonds in two watermelons away from his greedy brothers-in-law only to discover, to his great shock, that his wife Gamalat sold them. He goes on to struggle through a series of comedic incidents in search of the two watermelons.

Mohamed Ramadan is hitting again
 

A couple of months after releasing his Eid Al-Fitr season hit Harly, Mohamed Ramadan has entered the summer race with Aal-Zero; a thriller drama that features Nelly Karim and Khaled El-Sawy.

Also produced by El-Adl Group, Aal-Zero is written by Medhat El-Adl and directed by Mohamed El-Adl. It also stars Joumana Mourad, Islam Ibrahim, and Monzar Mohran.

Ramadan, 35, has made a huge impact on TV this Ramadan season with director’s Mohamed Sami hit Gaafar El-Omda. It has enjoyed major commercial success across Egypt and the Arab world.

Ramadan is experiencing another successful year, starting with being honoured at the 12th Luxor African Film Festival that took place in February.

As a singer, he is also among the biggest summer stars with various releases featuring foreign stars; including Come Baby Come with Skales, Necessaire with Mario Fresh and Renvtø, and Tetabtab with Stefanos Pitsiniagkas.

His new film Aal-Zero tells the story of Moamen, the lead singer in a mediocre Mahraganat band and a single father who has to provide a fortune to treat his only son who suffers from a fatal disease. The hero gets involved in a series of adventures and struggles through life's twists and turns. The story is tragic but treated with light comedy that eases up the pressure.

Ramadan boosted the film’s campaign with the release of Mahraganat song Khamsa Kol Khamis, written by Mostafa Hadouta and produced by Coolpix.

Summer race
 

Aal-Zero and Marei El-Breemo will be facing off in Egyptian theatres this week, but the two films will also face bitter competition from earlier releases from box office heroes.

Beit El-Ruby, of Karim Abdel-Aziz and Karim Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz, is already soaring with remarkable earnings that reportedly passed EGP 113 million since it was released on 21 June.

Other films include Mahmoud Hemieda’s Matrah Matrouh; Tag, featuring popstar Tamer Hosni as a superhero; Mr Ex, starring Ahmad Fahmy and Hana El-Zahid and many other comedians; and El-BoBo, from Amir Karara and Yasmine Sabri.

Moreover, August will also see the release of multiple Egyptian movies including; Mohamed Adel Emam’s Abu-Nasab, Mostafa Amar's Hareem Karim 2, Mohamed Farrag and Nelly Karim’s VOY! VOY! VOY! and Ghada Adel and Mohamed Abdel Rahman’s The Yellow Duck.

Meanwhile, Western films that are competing for attention include Oppenheimer, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Haunted Mansion, Insidious: The Red Door, Hidden Strike, The Little Mermaid, and Elemntal. At the end of the month, the highly anticipated Barbie is scheduled to be released after a delay.