Fast & Furious 7 filming to resume in capital in April

Filming on Fast & Furious 7 in Abu Dhabi will resume next month, the Abu Dhabi Film Commission and Universal Pictures confirmed.

Scenes from Fast And Furious 6. Courtesy Universal

Filming for Fast & Furious 7 will resume in Abu Dhabi from April 12 to 18.

The Abu Dhabi Film Commission (ADFC) and Universal Pictures yesterday confirmed the news after months of delays due to the sudden death of the film’s star, Paul Walker, last year.

Twofour54 intaj is the film’s local production crew, while twofour54 and Abu Dhabi Film Commission have helped facilitate the practicalities of bringing the shoot here.

The twofour54 head Noura Al Kaabi says: “When the sad news hit us, we totally respected the studio and the situation and waited for them to get back to us. We felt the Abu Dhabi scenes were important to the film and, of course, in November a team had already been here and captured a lot of footage at many locations around Abu Dhabi. It’s more than just 10 minutes and would be hard to double with somewhere else, so we felt sure they’d be back, but we were just waiting and getting on with our other projects. Now, finally, it’s happening next month.”

Another key part of twofour54’s remit is training local talent and one of the conditions of receiving the 30 per cent rebate for production in Abu Dhabi is training Emiratis on set. “We’ll have more details about this soon,” says Al Kaabi. “When we originally announced the filming, we did some workshops and we have some Emirati names to be part of the set up, so we’ll be releasing those names soon.”

Fast & Furious 7 is the latest major Hollywood project to be filmed in Abu Dhabi, attracted by a production incentive in the form of ADFC’s 30 per cent rebate for production spending in the emirate. Twofour54 intaj will serve as the UAE producer of the film.

The new chapter in the highest-grossing movie franchises started last November, when a visual effects crew captured helicopter shots, stunt footage and scenes at some of Abu Dhabi’s most iconic landmarks, including Jumeirah at Etihad Towers. The capital will host the actor and producer Vin Diesel and the actors Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, who will join the crew in Abu Dhabi to continue production.