Kandahar trailer: Gerard Butler stars in Hollywood blockbuster filmed in AlUla

Action thriller is first American feature to shoot extensively in ancient Saudi Arabian city

Gerard Butler, right, in the action blockbuster Kandahar, which is due for release later this year. Photo: Film AlUla

The official trailer for Gerard Butler's upcoming action film Kandahar has been released. The action thriller is the first major US production to be shot in Saudi Arabia's AlUla, known for its striking rock formations and ancient tombs.

Butler, who plays an undercover CIA operative in the film, reunites with director Ric Roman Waugh, with whom he's worked in films such as Angel Has Fallen and Greenland. Kandahar tells the story of Tom Harris (Butler) whose mission is exposed while he is stuck deep in hostile territory in Afghanistan. With the help of an Afghan translator, he must find his way to an extraction point in Kandahar, all while avoiding different forces tasked with hunting him down.

Bollywood actor Ali Fazal also stars alongside Iranian-American actor Navid Negahban.

Filming for Kandahar in AlUla began in December 2021 and finished the following month.

AlUla has been enjoying renewed attention over the past few years, with its otherworldly landscape making it a prime filming location. Film AlUla, which organised the filming of Kandahar, says it has hosted 694 production days since opening in 2020.

“We are building every aspect of the film industry itself,” Charlene Deleon-Jones, executive director of Film AlUla, previously told The National. "Local businesses will support the film industry, whether carpentry, catering, wardrobe specialist and makeup artists, but it’s also about developing crew, technical experts and local talent base. We also want to be involved in the entire process of filmmaking and not just as a location piece."

Other major films that have been shot include the Iraq war story Cherry, starring Tom Holland and directed by Anthony and Joe Russo; and Norah, the first Saudi feature film to be shot at AlUla, which features an all-Saudi cast and more than 40 per cent Saudi crew.

Construction of a comprehensive, cutting-edge studio complex has also begun in AlUla. The first part of the complex, encompassing 30,000 square metres, is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of the year. It will include two world-class soundstages, production support buildings, workshops, a pyro and special effects building, catering facilities, a sound recording studio and a 6,500-square-metre backlot, which can be used for additional support facilities when big shoots require it.

Kandahar is set for release on May 26

The otherworldly landscape of AlUla makes the area a prime filming location. All photos: Film AlUla

AlUla lay on the ancient incense trade route, a land and sea network spanning the Mediterranean, north-eastern Africa, Arabia and India

Film AlUla is in the Madinah region in north-western Saudi Arabia

The area has a diverse landscape unique in itself

The region surrounding the walled city of AlUla, established around the sixth century BC

AlUla hosts remnants of civilisations dating back more than 7,000 years

Dating back to the first century BC, Hegra served as the southern capital of the Nabataean kingdom, believed to have stretched from Yemen to Damascus and western Iraq to the Sinai desert

Other historical sites in the area include the stone city of Dadan, the capital of the Dadan and Lihyan kingdoms

Film AlUla has hosted 694 production days since opening in 2020

Film AlUla is aiming to make the area much more than simply a backdrop destination for filmmakers

The film Norah is directed by Tawfik Alzaidi

The historical areas in AlUla will make the region a particularly enticing one for filmmakers, especially as there haven’t been many depictions of it on the big screen

Film AlUla has a special committee to ensure the preservation of protected sites