The cash flow from middle eastern countries for movie theater tickets is what exactly? I would think there is a small population that can afford to pay for a movie. Street markets will be selling knock-offs and nobody in Hollywood will see a penny of those sales.
As to the propaganda value -- they hate us already, will this movie make them hate us more? I think not. The whole issue is a tempest in a tea pot.
Its true that the monetary value is modest but the propaganda value is not. The only thing better than the testimony of a traitor to prove your side of the conflict to your supporters is something captured from the other side which proves you are right.
The jihadis will be the only people in the world to actually pay to see these crappy movies. And lets say that only a few dozen people worldwide see De Palmas film and decide that they need to join the jihad? Certainly a great return on investment for Al Qaeda since they didn’t even have to produce the film.
Many people hate us around the world. But if you add hollywood quality theatrics to that hatred you are increasing its intensity. Its an infinitely more attractive message when you can see and actually believe that the US soldiers in Iraq are there to torture, rape and kill Iraqi women and children. And that is the message they are getting from these movies. Propaganda has always been a valuable tool and dictators around the world have used it for centuries.