Actors Liam Hemsworth, Zac Efron, Dwayne Johnson and the legendary Anthony Hopkins will arrive in the UAE next March to shoot a Hollywood flick, it has been announced.
Hopkins will be the villain in the Chuck Russell film, Arabian Nights, a new screen adaptation of the Arabic classic.
“We have got the necessary approvals and we photography [will] begin in March,” said Mohammad Saeed Al Mazroui, president of Sky Events Management in Abu Dhabi.
Filming will take place in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
“The UAE has an incredibly beautiful nature which made it a spectacular venue for international actors and creators to use it whether as a leisure entertainment place or as a working place”, added Al Mazroui in a release.
Russell’s filmography includes A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, The Mask, The Scorpion King and Eraser.
Arabian Nights will have a budget of approximately $90 million (Dh330 million) and is expected to hit theatres in late 2013 or early 2014.
Originally Russell said the film would be shot in Kazakhstan and it is unclear whether the UAE has been added as a location or whether filming has been moved entirely.
Produced by Mayhem Pictures and distributed by FilmDistrict, Arabian Nights is billed as a hybrid of action, drama, and adventure and with Sky Events Management serving as executive producer. The story will follow a young commander who joins forces with Sinbad (Johnson) to save Scheherazade and her kingdom from dark powers. Hemsworth is rumoured to be playing the character of Ali Baba.
When he announced the project last year, Russell said he planned to use “state-of-the-art 3D technology to give audiences a carpet ride like they’ve never seen before”.
Watch this space for more.
