A host of celebrities walked the red carpet at Dubai’s Jumeirah Zabeel Saray hotel on Monday night as broadcaster OSN celebrated the launch of its 2016 schedule.
Antonio Banderas, with his partner Nicole Kimpel, and Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark in the hit HBO drama, were there, after appearing earlier in the day at a press launch.
Local celebrities included Iraqi chat show host Zainab Salbi, Egyptian comedian Ahmed Helmy and From A to B star Shadi Alfons. The media guest list included representatives from Japan's NHK, Turkey's ITV and the US Disney TV channels.
The event was hosted was Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef. Clips of the shows and movies that will screen on OSN next year were shown — highlights included Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, the new 007 movie, Spectre, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Pan, upcoming Marvel superhero movies and the Zoolander sequel.
A band played a rearranged version of the theme from Game of Thrones, with an oud player taking the lead.
We also overheard that one of the films in the "new movies" show reel will debut at the Dubai International Film Festival in December — could that mean an early screening for the new Star Wars film?
cnewbould@thenational.ae
