Of the new film, Tom Ortenberg of Open Road Films said, “’ Kandahar’ is an adrenaline ride made for the big screen. Gerry, Ric, the G-BASE team and Thunder Road have outdone themselves with this pulse-pounding actioner that our team is looking forward to bringing to audiences everywhere." a b Wiseman, Andreas (September 21, 2022). "Open Road Lands U.S. Rights To Gerard Butler Action Pic 'Kandahar' In Eight-Figure Deal". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved September 21, 2022. Filming began in November 2021 and is expected to last until the end of this month. 'Desert Warrior' (Rupert Wyatt, 2022) It is funded by Saudi production company Rozam Media and comes from a novel and script by Saudi author Turki Al Alshikh, who is also the chairman of the kingdom's General Authority for Entertainment. The film shot for 39 days, 12 of them in Prague, doubling for Italy, and the remainder in Saudi Arabia, divided between AlUla and the capital. Tom Harris is a freelance undercover operative working for the CIA to insert malware into an Iranian nuclear research facility. Tom's cover is a field technician for a Swiss communications contractor. His mission is successful, and the malware causes the facility to self destruct, preventing the Iranians from acquiring more nuclear bombs.

The film has a multinational cast and crew of about 200 in the kingdom, including about 10 per cent Saudi nationals, according to Film AlUla commissioner Stephen Strachan. It is co-funded by Saudi media giant MBC and is shooting extensively in AlUla, as well as locations in Tabuk, Hail, Jeddah and Taif. Nevertheless, I had a good time with this movie and am happy with how fairly and not one-sided things are portrayed.a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 25, 2023). "Open Road's Gerard Butler Pic 'Kandahar' Sets Memorial Day Weekend Release". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved January 25, 2023. Wiseman, Andreas (December 2, 2021). "Gerard Butler Action Movie 'Kandahar' Begins Filming In Saudi Arabia; Ali Fazal & Navid Negahban Join Cast". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved March 3, 2022. Busch, Anita (June 6, 2016). " 'Burn Run' From Former Intelligence Officer Sells To Thunder Road Pictures". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved January 30, 2023. Basil Iwanyk, Brendon Boyea, Erica Lee, Butler, Alan Siegel, Christian Mercuri, Ali Jaafar and Scott LaStaiti produce. The shoot was the first time any non-documentary, or indeed any American film, had been permitted to film in the Holy City of Makkah. The Saudi sections of the film deal with Malcolm, played by Denzel Washington, performing his Hajj in 1964, although the scenes were almost filmed in a stand-in set in New Jersey.

Lodderhose, Diana (December 14, 2021). "Saudi Film Commission Unveils 40% Cash Rebate For Local & Int'l Productions". Deadline Hollywood. For more than three decades cinemas were banned in Saudi Arabia, but since the kingdom relaxed its laws in December 2017, it has gone into an overdrive in its mission to become the region’s leading hub for movie production. Jeremy Irons and Tobin Bell (aka Jigsaw from the Saw franchise) star in this forthcoming period horror from Saw II to IV and Spiral director Bousman. a b Wiseman, Andreas (June 22, 2020). "Gerard Butler Re-Teams With 'Angel Has Fallen' Director Ric Roman Waugh For Thunder Road Action Pic 'Kandahar' — Cannes". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved March 3, 2022.

Production: What we know about Kandahar?

The film is a truly international affair, and although the big names attached are British and American, Cello also features cast and crew from France, Italy, Canada and across the Middle East. You know, there is an interesting subplot going on with Mo searching for his sister, who was a teacher abducted by the Taliban and hasn’t been heard from since. That is a mystery worth getting invested in, not whatever Kandahar is. Stories about the West at war with Brown people peaked with Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty(Although I also enjoyed Nicolai Fuglsig’s 12 Strong). Maybe there is something about chronicling history based on actual events that hold something over these made-up western savior narratives that have nothing going for them except to be monotonous, xenophobic and a complete bore. Director Ric Roman Waugh’s Kandahar marks the second time in as many months that a film’s heart comes from a bond between an operative and his field translator (the other is Guy Ritchie’s the Covenant). Unsurprisingly, considering that Kandahar comes from the filmmaker behind Angel Has Fallen and Greenland, once again collaborating with Gerard Butler in the lead role, this version is more action-oriented but not without a thoughtful if sometimes messy emotional buildup attempting to explore the different motives of its various characters, nationalities, and militias. The first Hollywood project as a result of Film AlUla's efforts was the Russo Brothers’ Cherry, which stars Tom Holland as a PTSD-suffering Iraq veteran who turns to robbing banks to fund his and his wife’s opioid addiction. I promise I don’t have anything against this type of movie. I take issue with so many of them not being worth watching. For Kandahar to be called an action film, there should be action. Look, there isn’t much more to say about it except it will induce so many eye rolls you might see your brain stem in the process because watching through the whole 2-hour runtime is its own hostage situation.

Saudi Arabia may have only recently started establishing itself as a media production hub, but it’s not a total stranger to international cinema. Director Spike Lee’s 1992 biopic of the influential civil rights activist Malcolm X was shot in the kingdom as long ago as 1992. Lodderhose, Diana (February 8, 2022). " Kandahar: Capstone's Christian Mercuri Talks Shooting Gerard Butler Actioner In Saudi Arabia, Plus Behind The Scenes Photos". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved April 14, 2022. Bruce Neibaur’s Imax docudrama makes full use of the giant screen technology to bring the epic desert landscapes of 14th-century Islamic explorer Ibn Battuta to life.

The action is only a small portion of this movie. But I was still invested because of the story and characters. There were scenes of suspense as well as slower character moments, but I was never bored. It does a good job of balancing many moving parts (different groups, races and motivations). In September 2022, Open Road Films acquired the film's U.S. distribution rights in an eight-figure deal. [5] In January 2023, it was announced that the film would be released in theaters on May 26, 2023. [2] Reception [ edit ] Box office [ edit ] Starring: Gerard Butler , Bahador Foladi , Navid Negahban , Elnaaz Norouzi , Rebecca Calder , Ali Fazal Screenwriter Mitchell LaFortune wrote the film based on own experiences as a military intelligence officer during the Edward Snowden leaks (9/25/2022).

Pivotal to the kingdom’s success as a truly global production hub, though, is its desire to attract big-name international productions that will put it on the map and etch the image of Saudi Arabia into the minds of global audiences.

The Ric Roman Waugh-directed feature joins other big theatrical titles over the four-day holiday like Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Lionsgate’s Sebastian Maniscalco-Robert De Niro movie About My Father, and Sony’s action comedy The Machine. EXCLUSIVE: Add another wide release to the 2023 theatrical calendar as Open Road has just dated the Gerard Butler action movie Kandaharfor May 26, Memorial Day weekend. The inaugural Red Sea International Film Festival finally took place in December after its planned 2020 launch was hindered by Covid-19, and a healthy local production industry is already in gear, delighting Arabic-speaking audiences at home (with Netflix’s Masameer: The Movie) and abroad ( Haifaa Al Mansour’s Venice competitor The Perfect Candidate). Wiseman, Andreas (December 2, 2021). " 'Kandahar': Gerard Butler Action Pic Adds Nina Toussaint-White & Bahador Foladi". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved March 3, 2022. The film stars Moroccan actor Chems-Eddine Zinoune as Battuta and is narrated by Ben Kingsley. It follows Battuta from his native Morocco to Makkah, meeting Bedouins, bandits and fellow pilgrims on the way.