The year's most eagerly awaited film — possibly the most-anticipated film of all time — Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, will have its regional premiere in Abu Dhabi on December 16, the day before it opens in local cinemas and less than 48 hours after its world premiere in Los Angeles on December 14.
The invite-only gala screening will be at Emirates Palace, with the time yet to be confirmed. Organisers have also yet to reveal what stars and celebrity guests will attend the exclusive event, though such a high profile premiere is likely to attract regional and international stars.
A spokesman for local production partner twofour54 also promised the intriguing prospect of “an exclusive experience for the Abu Dhabi event” – but would not elaborate.
Episode VII, part of which was filmed in Abu Dhabi last year, is one of the most heavily hyped cinema events in recent years.
Director J J Abrams has successfully reunited all of the main cast from George Lucas’ 1977 original, including the trio of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher (who play Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Leia Organa). They are joined by newcomers including Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, who play new heroes Rey and Finn, plus Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron and Adam Driver as the villain, Kylo Ren.
There had been initial hopes that Abu Dhabi might serve as the location for the film’s world premiere, fuelled by the mention of a December 15 release in the UAE on online movie encyclopaedia IMDB.com, but this date was soon deleted.
"Having Star Wars: The Force Awakens screen in Abu Dhabi prior to its general release is a real validation for how successful the filming was while the production was here," says Noura Al Kaabi, twofour54's chief executive.
“To date, all of the trailers and TV spots for the film have included scenes from Abu Dhabi, which have generated unprecedented excitement around the globe.
“We are very proud of our achievements and excited for audiences around the world to experience Abu Dhabi on the big screen”.
Abu Dhabi provides the landscape for the planet Jakku, “a frontier desert planet in a remote section of the Outer Rim Territories”, according to StarWars.com.
With assistance from twofour54 and the Abu Dhabi Film Commission, filming for the movie took place in the Emirate in May last year, during which 650 crew members worked at two locations.
The Force Awakens, is the seventh instalment in the Star Wars franchise and is expected to be one of the most successful films of all time. It is already the most heavily pre-booked film in US history, earning more US$50million (Dh184m) in pre-release ticket sales in North America alone, with more than two weeks still to go before over two weeks before its release there on December 18.
The Abu Dhabi premiere will be a red-carpet, invitation-only event brought to the capital by twofour54 in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority and The Walt Disney Company.
Don't miss our exclusive interviews with The Force Awakens stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Gwendoline Christie, in which they talk about the new film and the experience of filming in the Abu Dhabi desert. Read it in The National's Arts&Life section and online on December 3.
cnewbould@thenational.ae
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Company name: Namara
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Who is Tim-Berners Lee?
Sir Tim Berners-Lee was born in London in a household of mathematicians and computer scientists. Both his mother, Mary Lee, and father, Conway, were early computer scientists who worked on the Ferranti 1 - the world's first commercially-available, general purpose digital computer. Sir Tim studied Physics at the University of Oxford and held a series of roles developing code and building software before moving to Switzerland to work for Cern, the European Particle Physics laboratory. He developed the worldwide web code as a side project in 1989 as a global information-sharing system. After releasing the first web code in 1991, Cern made it open and free for all to use. Sir Tim now campaigns for initiatives to make sure the web remains open and accessible to all.
Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
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He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
