Dubai: Hollywood film Fast & Furious 7 starts filming in Abu Dhabi on Friday, confirming months of speculation that the billion-dollar film franchise would shoot its next instalment in the UAE.
The Abu Dhabi Film Commission (ADFC) confirmed the film — the latest in the series about a team of outlaws powered by fast cars — starts filming special effects in the UAE capital on Friday, with twofour54 intaj, the film and television services arm of twofour54, acting as the local producer.
Filming with the movie’s stars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker will take place in January 2014, ADFC said in a statement. A twofour54 spokesperson told Gulf News the dates for the stars’ arrival and length of shooting had not yet been confirmed.
“Universal Pictures’ Fast & Furious franchise is known for its legacy of shoots in amazing locations,” said Noura Al Kaabi, Chief Executive, twofour54. “Following the enormous success of Fast & Furious 6, it’s great that Abu Dhabi has been selected for this latest film, not just because this will be the biggest movie to be shot in Abu Dhabi to date, generating substantial international media exposure for the Emirate, but also because of the huge amount of local investment and work-experience opportunities for young Emiratis that a Hollywood blockbuster of this scale brings. This is a wonderful opportunity for Abu Dhabi’s growing film talent to acquire new skills.”
A selected number of young Emiratis from twofour54’s vocational traineeship intaji and from twofour54’s creative lab community will be interning on set and will have the chance to work with the film’s director, James Wan, and the producers Neal H. Moritz and Michael Fottrell.
Although a Los Angeles website had earlier this year indicated there will be local casting for the film, twofour54 could not confirm if there would be any auditions.
Fast & Furious 7 is the second Hollywood production to benefit from ADFC’s 30 per cent rebate to filmmakers. Paranormal thriller Beware the Night shot in Abu Dhabi in July, using the expertise of local filmmaking crews. Also benefitting from the rebate, introduced late last year, were Arabic drama series Hammam Shami, Wilada Men Al Khasira and Sanaood Baaed Qaleel.
On the set of Beware The Night, which filmed in Liwa and in twofour54’s Abu Dhabi studio, producer Glenn Gainor expressed confidence in the UAE’s filmmaking abilities. “I took a risk to trust twofour54’s management to build a very complicated set... I’m happy to say Paul [Baker, Executive Director of twofour54 intaj] and his team did not let me down at all.”
“By encouraging regional and international productions to shoot in the UAE, we are facilitating the development of a sustainable local film industry, making a large net contribution to both the economy and cultural life,” added Noura. “Directly, major productions such as Fast & Furious 7 shot in Abu Dhabi create new and highly qualified jobs, grow a deeper pool of industry talent, provide opportunities for service and equipment providers, a robust production infrastructure and contribute to the establishment of new companies to service the film industry. Indirectly, their box-office appeal has a positive impact on UAE tourism and trade. Just look at what happened to New Zealand, a great example of an economy that has seen a tangible impact to its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) after being a location for blockbuster movie franchises.”
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