In the early 20th century, two Arabian Emirs, Nesib and Amar, have been at war over a vast barren strip they call "The Yellow Belt". Nesib, the victorious leader, takes Amar's sons, Saleh and Auda, as hostages, promising to rear them with his own children. Ten years pass, and Auda has grown into a voracious reader, while Saleh longs to return home. An American geologist working for Texan Oil discovers high-grade crude oil under the Yellow Belt, and Nesib allows the company to extract it, violating his peace pact with Amar. Nesib uses the oil revenues to modernize his kingdom but faces resistance from desert tribesmen. In a political maneuver, Nesib marries Auda to his daughter Leyla, dissolving his pact with Amar. Auda reluctantly agrees and learns more about his father during his stay with Amar. Amar's allies argue that allowing foreigners to extract oil will destroy their culture, but Auda unsuccessfully argues that God would not have put it in their soil if he did not mean for them to use it. Amar sends an envoy offering to cease hostilities if Nesib shuts down the oil wells and expels the foreigners; Nesib refuses. The stage is set for a conflict that will decide the fate of their kingdoms.

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Some movies that have similar genres and were produced around the same time as Black Gold include Interstellar, Bridge to Terabithia, The Martian, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Into the Wild, The Spiderwick Chronicles.

Black Gold was released in theaters on March 1, 2013.