BIG HOLLYWOOD PRODUCTIONS
01 Star Wars: The Force Awakens
When Disney announced they were buying Star Wars creator George Lucas’s company Lucasfilm in 2012, little did the world know that Abu Dhabi would play such a big part in the very next Star Wars movie,
The Force Awakens. Released in December 2015, the sand dunes of the Liwa desert in the Al Dhafra region became the planet Jakku, home to the new trilogy’s main character Rey (played by British actress Daisy Ridley). Filming took place in May 2014, and included hundreds of extras, along with staff from the capital’s media company twofour54 (and with assistance from Abu Dhabi Film Commission). Filming in Abu Dhabi was an incredible thing,” said the film’s director JJ Abrams. “Star Wars is a Western and a fairy tale... shooting in Abu Dhabi was just that.”
02 Mission: Impossible – Fallout
It’s common knowledge that Hollywood star Tom Cruise does a lot of his own stunts, especially for his Mission:
Impossible movies. And for the latest in the series, released this summer, Cruise visited Abu Dhabi for a particularly scary one. He performed a High Altitude, Low Opening (HALO) jump, leaping from a C17 military plane some 25,000ft in the air into the Abu Dhabi desert below (you can see how he filmed the jump by heading to whatson.ae/ abudhabi). Cruise had a great time in the nation’s capital – so much so, he took to Twitter to tell the world. “Thank you to everyone in Abu Dhabi for the amazing help and cooperation. Our filming here continues to be a wonderful experience,” said the star.
03 Furious 7
The Fast And The Furious crew chose the nation’s capital as a location for part of the movie series’ seventh film back in 2015. Scenes were shot with the cast, including Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson and Michelle Rodriguez, on the iconic steps of Emirates Palace, plus a car chase scene was shot in the Liwa desert. But the movie’s most iconic scene was shot in the city – Vin Diesel drives a Lykan HyperSport motor through a window of one of the Jumeirah At Etihad Towers skyscrapers, into the other.
04 War Machine
Brad Pitt’s 2017 Netflix movie was another Hollywood blockbuster to be filmed in Abu Dhabi. Some 20 locations across the capital were used to create a fictional US embassy in Kabul, including ADNEC, plus part of the emirate’s remote deserts. Scenes were also shot in Ras Al Khaimah and some 2,300 extras took part in the shoot. In partnership with twofour54, the production also gave the opportunity to young UAE Nationals to intern on the set of the film.