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.

In addition to trying to reorient the Saudi economy away from oil and moderate its official religious rhetoric, Prince Mohammed, a son of the Saudi king and next in line to the throne, has sought to make life more enjoyable for those who have long complained that the country’s strict religious rules make it a boring place to live.