Tom Cruise's Burj Khalifa-jumping blockbuster Mission: Impossible 4 will open Dubai International Film Festival
Dubai has beaten off competition from international cities to land the world premiere of 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol'.
The Tom Cruise Burj Khalifa-jumping blockbuster will open the 8th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), on December 7, when Cruise and his co-stars will walk the red carpet at the Madinat Jumeirah.
With the much-anticipated movie also being shot in Prague, Moscow, Mumbai and Vancouver, the MI:4 premiere could have been held anywhere but the UAE trumped them.
And Abdulhamid Juma, chairman of DIFF, said: "Dubai and the UAE are the 'Mission: Possible' of the Arab world, so this link is particularly fitting."
The staging of the world premiere is a huge coup and Adam Ridgway, managing director at casting agency Mediacubed, which provided extras for the film, added: "To have this film here naturally fits. We have iconic buildings, and this is an iconic film. It's a completely natural choice."
He added the movie will have a positive impact on the UAE, locally and internationally. "Dubai deserves the good publicity, and the world premiere of a film like this has never been done on this scale before," he said.
"It will enable a lot more filmmakers to be inspired, encouraged and empowered." One of those cast as an extra for the fourth installment of the Mission Impossible franchise, Saleha Osmani-Eliard, 33, was excited after yesterday's announcement.
"Dubai will look absolutely amazing in this movie, and the world will appreciate its beauty and unique and modern architecture like never before," she said.
"I was lucky enough to be in two scenes where I could see Tom Cruise up close and personal. Not only was it my first time on a movie set, but being part of something so huge was just out of this world," she added. Oscar-winning director Brad Bird and other stars of the film will be in town for the screening.
© 7Days 2011
