Firstly, I love Dubai and I absolutely love the look of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. So if the Dubai Film Festival wish to fly me out for opening night, then that’d be fine (First Class please). It’s probably only fitting that MI:GP opens the DFF, given that much of the coverage has revolved around a set piece with the Cruise Machine, running around on the outside the Burj Khalifia. Which only happens to be the worlds tallest building.
So, failing a trip to Dubai, you’ll have to wait a week or more to see what is promising to be the biggest action movie of the year. What follows is some PR from the Dubai Film Festival.
Adrenaline, ambition and A-list star power will converge in one of the world’s fastest-rising cities next month, when the highly anticipated blockbuster Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol debuts to the world as the opening film of the 8th Dubai International Film Festival on December 7, 2011.
Dubai will reprise its own starring role in the film when Cruise, Bird and the film’s co-stars take to the Festival’s opening night red carpet alongside the city’s leadership at the Madinat Jumeirah, The Arabian Resort – Dubai, home to the Dubai International Film Festival. Today’s joint announcement from Paramount Pictures and the Festival celebrates the Mission: Impossible team’s return to Dubai after extensive filming in the city, including shoots spanning its old town, downtown financial hub and offshore Palm island development.
The film’s return to Dubai, following shoots done in Prague, Moscow, Mumbai and Vancouver, is a coup for the emirate, its film festival and the region’s film industry. Under the patronage of UAE Vice President and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Dubai International Film Festival has steadily built its reputation as a global launching pad for Arab, Asian, African and other world cinema and as a facilitator of cultural exchange through film.
Ahmad Abdulla Al Shaikh, Director General of the Dubai Government Media Office, said: “We await with great excitement the return of the Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol filmmakers, crew, and talent to Dubai in December. Dubai’s continuing relationship with the film is a mark of trust in Dubai’s world-class infrastructure, capabilities and leadership. This relationship is a point of pride not only for the emirate but for the region as a whole.” H.E. Mr AlShaikh reiterated that, “Dubai continues to welcome serious filmmakers from around the world, and remains ready to extend all assistance and support necessary to ensure the success of their films. Dubai reaffirms its commitment to the advancement of the local, regional, and international film industries.”
The developments also mark a coming of age for the first festival in the Gulf region and arguably the most successful in the Arab world and near Asia-Africa.
