Film fans in the UAE are abuzz with the rumour that Abu Dhabi's desert will stand in as Tatooine, Luke Skywalker's home planet, in the next Star Wars movie. With Fast & Furious 7 also filming in the emirate, it seemed to confirm Abu Dhabi as a destination, whether for its nascent film industry or simply as a place to spot Hollywood stars.
Given that Matmata, the Tunisian village which stood in for Tatooine in the first movie, is still attracting tourists despite the passage of nearly 40 years and the turmoil of the Arab Spring, it will clearly be a notable moment for Abu Dhabi tourism if Star Wars is confirmed. However there is something far bigger at play here for the UAE and the development of its economy away from extractive industries.
Attracting major Hollywood films to the UAE will be a boon to the local film festivals but will achieve little else unless it leads to skills being passed on to locals. The world film industry is well known for its capricious exploitation of tax loopholes or financial incentives, and is equally renown for moving on if offered a better deal elsewhere.
But if locals can learn from the best in the world in a wide range of industry roles – be it scriptwriting, directing, post production or marketing – there is the prospect of creating the critical mass of expertise in the UAE that will foster a homegrown film industry.
An even surer investment for the UAE’s economy is movie-related theme parks. Construction is already well advanced on the Marvel superheroes theme park in Dubai. Universal Studios, Six Flags, Legoland and Bollywood theme parks are also planned or already underway. The experience of Anaheim and Australia’s Gold Coast is that clusters of theme parks create an industry of its own, boosting the UAE tourism sector and enticing some of the increasing number of longhaul passengers on Emirates or Etihad to break their journeys and spend a few days here.
And finally, the A-list directors who film in the UAE might realise that we also offer the same attributes of bright sunshine and reliable weather that led to Hollywood becoming the home of the US film industry. Many of those early filmmakers in the US were from the eastern seaboard but discovered California was a pleasant place to live and settle. The same could happen here, and for Abu Dhabi, that would be a true Hollywood ending.
