Fast & Furious 7 begins filming in Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI // Filming for the seventh movie in the hit Fast & Furious franchise will begin in Abu Dhabi on Friday, November 8.
Abu Dhabi Film Commission and Universal Pictures said scenes would be shot by the visual-effects unit. Stunt footage will also be filmed.
Between 80 and 120 cast and crew members, including stars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, will arrive in the UAE in January and will be shooting scenes at some of Abu Dhabi's landmarks.
Twofour54 intaj, the film and television services arm of the twofour54 media cluster, will act as the local producer for the blockbuster.
"Universal Pictures' Fast & Furious franchise is known for its legacy of shoots in amazing locations," said Noura Al Kaabi, chief executive of twofour54.
"Following the enormous success of Fast & Furious 6, it is great that Abu Dhabi has been selected for this latest film, not just because this will be the biggest movie to be shot in Abu Dhabi to date, generating substantial international media exposure for the emirate, but also because of the huge amount of local investment and work-experience opportunities for young Emiratis that a Hollywood blockbuster of this scale brings."
Fast & Furious 7 is due to be released on August 7 next year.
Talented Emiratis will have the opportunity to work alongside its director, James Wan, the movie's stars, and producers Neal H Moritz and Michael Fottrell through twofour54's traineeship programme, intaji, and twofour54's creative lab community.
"Major productions such as Fast & Furious 7 shot in Abu Dhabi create new and highly qualified jobs, grow a deeper pool of industry talent, provide opportunities for service and equipment providers, a robust production infrastructure, and contribute to the establishment of new companies to service the film industry," Ms Al Kaabi said.
"Indirectly, their box-office appeal has a positive impact on UAE tourism and trade."
Ms Al Kaabi highlighted the economic impact of movie production to New Zealand's gross domestic product, after blockbuster movie franchises such as The Lord of The Rings were filmed there.
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