CAIRO: Cairo rolled out the red carpet on Friday night for the premiere of Saudi-backed action blockbuster “7 Dogs,” with a guest list packed with Arab cinema heavyweights and international stars.
Held ahead of the film’s global release on May 27, the premiere drew some of the region’s biggest names, including Egyptian stars Ahmed Ezz and Karim Abdel Aziz, who lead the cast of the high-budget thriller. Tara Emad was also among the stars walking the carpet as fans and photographers lined the space for one of the Arab world’s most talked-about film launches of the year.
Also in attendance were Giancarlo Esposito (“Breaking Bad”), US action superstar Jason Statham, US comedian Martin Lawrence and English model and actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
In an interview with Arab News on the sidelines of the premiere, Esposito opened up about starring in the film. “I had a wonderful experience on this film. I was very excited to shoot in foreign country, especially in an Arab country in Saudi Arabia. I was also very excited to be with Bilall (Fallah) and Adil (El-Arbi), these wonderful directors who are from Belgium, who took this opportunity to make such an interesting international movie produced in Saudi Arabia,” said Esposito.
“I think there could be a future in Arabic movies because they have the ability to portray many different countries in one place. This film takes place in Shanghai, Mumbai, Egypt, and all shots were in Saudi Arabia,” he added.
German-Chinese martial-arts talent Max Huang, who also stars in the film, said, “It was a dream come true. Likewise, for me, it was really the combination of all of it. I have been a fan of the two directors Adil El-Arbi and Bilall Fallah, I saw their movie ‘Bad Boys.’ I love how they are finding their own language within the action space, how they move the camera, how they tell a story.”
The film, backed by Saudi Arabia’s entertainment sector and filmed partly in the Kingdom, has generated significant buzz for its scale and international ambition. Industry reports have described the production as one of the most expensive Arabic-language films to date, directed by Belgian-Moroccan filmmaking duo El-Arbi and Fallah, known for their work on “Bad Boys for Life.”
The film is based on a story by Turki Al-Sheikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, with a screenplay by Mohamed El-Dabbah.
The plot follows elite Interpol officer Khalid Al-Azzazi (Ezz) who captures a senior boss (Abdel Aziz) of a covert global crime syndicate known as “7 Dogs”. When the syndicate resurfaces a year later to traffic a deadly new drug called “Pink Lady” across the Middle East, Khalid is forced into an uneasy, action-packed alliance with his former captive to dismantle the network from within.
Other famous cast members include Italian actress Monica Bellucci, Hollywood star Giancarlo Esposito, Bollywood stars Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt, as well as German-Chinese martial-arts talent Max Huang. Egyptian actress Emad and Lebanese actress Sandy Bella are also in the cast as elite Interpol agents. Saudi television star Nasser Algassabi appears as General Nasser, opposite Egyptian veteran Sayed Ragab as General Sabri.
“7 Dogs” also blew up two Guinness World Records while filming. The film now holds the record for the largest cinematic explosion, detonating the equivalent of 170.7 tonnes of TNT, blowing away the previous record set by the James Bond film “Spectre” in 2015. The film also broke the record for the largest amount of high explosives used in a single film take, setting off 405.85 kg of TNT in one scene — topping another Bond movie, “No Time to Die” (2021).
Also in attendance were Giancarlo Esposito (“Breaking Bad”), US action superstar Jason Statham, US comedian Martin Lawrence and English model and actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
The film, backed by Saudi Arabia’s entertainment sector and filmed partly in the Kingdom, has generated significant buzz for its scale and international ambition. Industry reports have described the production as one of the most expensive Arabic-language films to date, directed by Belgian-Moroccan filmmaking duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, known for their work on "Bad Boys for Life.”
The film is based on a story by Turki Al-Sheikh, Chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, with a screenplay by Mohamed El-Dabbah.
The plot follows elite Interpol officer Khalid Al-Azzazi (Ezz) who captures a senior boss (Abdel Aziz) of a covert global crime syndicate known as “7 Dogs”. When the syndicate resurfaces a year later to traffic a deadly new drug called "Pink Lady" across the Middle East, Khalid is forced into an uneasy, action-packed alliance with his former captive to dismantle the network from within.
Other famous cast members include Italian actress Monica Bellucci, Hollywood star Giancarlo Esposito, Bollywood stars Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt, as well as German-Chinese martial-arts talent Max Huang. Egyptian actress Emad and Lebanese actress Sandy Bella are also in the cast as elite Interpol agents. Saudi television star Nasser Algassabi appears as General Nasser, opposite Egyptian veteran Sayed Ragab as General Sabri.
“7 Dogs” also broke two Guinness World Records while filming, and the numbers are kind of wild. The film now holds the record for the largest cinematic explosion, detonating the equivalent of 170.7 tons of TNT, blowing past the previous record set by James Bond film “Spectre” back in 2015. The film also broke the record for the largest amount of high explosives used in a single film take, setting off 405.85 kilograms of TNT in one scene — topping another Bond movie “No Time to Die” (2021).
