Abu Dhabi has steadily grown into a reliable stage for Hollywood’s action spectacle. A number of big-name productions have been filmed in the emirate, from Star Wars and Mission: Impossible to Denis Villeneuve’s Dune saga and Brad Pitt’s F1 The Movie.
Building on that momentum, Emirati actor and producer Mohamed F Mostafa has partnered with British filmmakers Neil Marshall and Jadey Duffield to develop a new slate of action films in Abu Dhabi, with an aim to establish the UAE capital as a global hub for the genre and give local talent a platform on the world stage.
The projects will be produced under Marshall and Duffield’s UK-based company Art of Action, with Abu Dhabi as its base. Two titles are already in development: Marshall’s Skeleton Coast, a desert survival thriller, and Duffield’s Blackout, described as a “Knives Out-style whodunnit crossed with The Raid-style action”.
Marshall is best known for The Descent (2005) and for directing Emmy-nominated Game of Thrones episodes including Blackwater and The Watchers on the Wall, while Duffield is building her reputation as a writer-director with a focus on action-driven stories after a decade in motion-capture and stunt work.
Mostafa is in the process of establishing a production company in Abu Dhabi that will work alongside Art of Action and ensure Emirati talent is embedded in each project.
“It’s serendipity, really,” Marshall says. “Jadey and I began working together last year on a couple of action projects and set up a company to do it. Then we met Mohamed, and he seemed very much on the same wavelength. We both have individual films we’re preparing to make out of the UAE. They’re ambitious, action-packed and very commercial. We want big names in them, and to utilise the incredible locations and talents of the UAE.”
Mostafa says the timing could not have been better. “The idea is to leverage local talent in front of and behind the camera, and blend that with the people we’re bringing in. There are many capable talents here – we just have to cherry-pick the right ones and prove that this can be done.”
Leveraging Abu Dhabi’s rebate scheme
Central to the plan is Abu Dhabi’s enhanced incentive programme, which now allows film and television productions to earn up to 50 per cent cashback on qualifying expenditure. The scheme is designed to not only attract big-budget shoots, but also encourage productions to hire local cast and crew and invest in the country’s infrastructure.
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Mostafa has been aligning the Art of Action projects with those requirements. “We want full transparency and clarity on what you can and cannot do, and how to maximise that,” he says. “The idea is to blend the experience Neil and Jadey bring with the capabilities already here, so the UAE benefits as much as the films do.”
Action as the global genre
For Marshall, there is no question that action is the right focus. “Action movies are a global currency,” he says. “It’s the one genre that will travel anywhere. Action speaks louder than words – it transcends borders, it transcends everything.”
In doing so, the hope is, they will be able to elevate regional talent into global superstars. “Stars aren’t born, stars are made. We need to start making the films, to get people in front of the camera, nurture talent both in front and behind, and build on what’s already there.”
Duffield echoes the emphasis on training and integration. “At this stage we can nurture talent here with stunt teams and action design. There’s so much room to include people. We’ll bring in some crew, but essentially it’s about building a mixture of both.”
Mostafa believes the UAE’s film scene has so far underplayed action, even as horror has gained traction. Majid Al Ansari’s Zinzana (2015) was widely acclaimed, and the filmmaker's latest, Hoba, will have its premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin this month. But horror, he says, appeals to niche audiences, while action is a universal language.
Service hub to industry base
The UAE’s appeal to Hollywood has been proven again and again. Yet once the cameras stop rolling, a sizeable part of those crews move on. In Duffield, Marshall and Mostafa's view, the difference with Art of Action is permanence.
Duffield says: “Bringing projects here is exciting because the UAE is the next film hub. The technology is advanced and the support systems are there. It feels like it’s on the brink.”
Mohamed Mostafa’s journey
Mostafa’s own career thus far has reflected the same balance between international ambition and local grounding. He starred in Apple TV+’s Hijack alongside Idris Elba, becoming the first Emirati actor to play a key role in a global streaming hit. He then led Khattaf, a martial-arts drama directed by his brother, Ali Mostafa, predominantly in Thailand, which he described as requiring “literal blood, sweat and tears”.
Now, he is stepping into production, working to ensure others have the opportunities he fought to secure. His own career continues, with several roles in international projects already in the works, but he is increasingly focused on making sure the UAE’s film industry grows with him.
Mostafa argues the country's advantages go beyond rebates. “Demographically, it’s great. You can bring people in from anywhere and people love to come here. It’s safe, and you can focus fully on your project.”
Defining the Arab action film
The plan is for Art of Action’s productions to not only film in Abu Dhabi, but also embed knowledge transfer into their DNA. Local stunt teams and crew will work alongside international specialists, building expertise film by film.
Marshall says they are also looking to regionalise their action choreography. “We want to tap into fighting styles and things from the region that haven’t been seen before, instead of just copying what’s going on in Hong Kong. Do something fresh.”
For more than a decade, the UAE has been an impressive stage for Hollywood’s biggest spectacles. What it has lacked is the chance to create global blockbusters of its own.
Mostafa believes that moment has come. “We want to enhance what’s already here, not replace it,” he says. “By doing this together, we can show the UAE is capable of world-class cinema.”
If the collaboration takes shape as planned, it could mark the beginning of a new era – with Abu Dhabi both hosting Hollywood blockbusters as well as but producing its own action films with global reach.
