Latest in Kandahar

EXCLUSIVE: Add another wide release to the 2023 theatrical calendar as Open Road has just dated the Gerard Butler action movie Kandahar for May 26, Memorial Day weekend. The Ric Roman Waugh-directed feature joins other big theatrical titles over the four-day holiday like Disney’s The Little Mermaid…

Saudi Arabia's Film AlUla, the film agency of the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), has announced the start of construction on the first phase of its ambitious new film and TV studio complex. The first phase will encompass approximately 330,000 square feet (30,000 square metres) and is scheduled to…

With the Red Sea Film Festival well underway, global execs have descended in Jeddah to suss out the potential of the Saudi Arabian market and one key figure at the coalface of these conversations is MBC Studios' Senior Manager of Content, Ali Jaafar.  The exec, who heads up the feature film division…

EXCLUSIVE: Open Road Films has acquired U.S. rights to Gerard Butler action thriller Kandahar in a splashy eight-figure deal (low teens, we understand). The G-BASE, Thunder Road, Capstone Studios and MBC Studios feature reunites Butler and director Ric Roman Waugh (Angel Has Fallen, Greenland) in the story of Tom…

Saudi Arabia has taken another step in its push to become a movie production hub by launching its long-awaited 40% cash rebate to grow the local economy. Unveiling the Film Saudi initiative at the Cannes Saudi Pavilion, the Saudi Film Commission (SFC) said the program is now open for applications via a dedicated…

EXCLUSIVE: Bollywood star Elnaaz Norouzi has been added to the cast of Kandahar, the action movie starring Gerard Butler that has been shooting in Saudi Arabia. Ric Roman Waugh is helming the film, which stars Butler as Tom Harris, an undercover CIA operative, stuck deep in hostile territory in Afghanistan. He must…

Shooting wrapped last month on the long-awaited Gerard Butler project Kandahar and here are some exclusive behind the scenes photos from the film, which is notably one of the first major U.S. titles to shoot its entirety in Saudi Arabia. The film, which is produced by John Wick outfit Thunder Road Films and Capstone…

EXCLUSIVE: Nina Toussaint-White (Bodyguard) and Bahador Foladi (The Machinery) have joined the cast of Gerard Butler action movie Kandahar, which is currently filming in Saudi Arabia. Butler stars as Tom Harris, an undercover CIA operative, stuck deep in hostile territory in Afghanistan. He must fight his way out…

Saudi Arabia's nascent film industry is in the spotlight this week thanks to the inaugural edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, which runs until December 15. Few international productions had ventured into the Saudi desert to shoot prior to this year, which saw the first real influx of…

Since Saudi Arabia lifted its 35-year-old religion related ban on cinema in 2017, the country has been ramping up its efforts to attract local and international productions to come and shoot in the region. Film AlUla is playing a major part in the government's Vision 3030 plan to modernize the country. Established in…

EXCLUSIVE: Filming has begun in Saudi Arabia on Gerard Butler action movie Kandahar, which becomes the first big-budget U.S. feature to shoot in the country’s touted AlUla region. Produced by John Wick outfit Thunder Road Films and Capstone, Kandahar reunites Butler with his Greenland and Angel Has Fallen director Ric…

EXCLUSIVE: Screenwriter and former Defense Intelligence Agency officer, Mitchell LaFortune has inked with APA. LaFortune, who has served on multiple intelligence deployments to Afghanistan, recently penned Burn Run which turned into Kandahar, repping Gerard Butler’s reteam with his Angel Has Fallen filmmaker Ric Roman…