After over a decade in development since the release of 2001's Jurassic Park III, the fourth movie in the blockbuster dino-scare franchise, Jurassic World, seems to be finally coming together, and judging by the teaser site the producers have put online this week, it looks like Abu Dhabi could be set to host yet another Hollywood blockbuster, after playing host to the cast and crews of both Furious 7 and Star Wars: Episode 7 earlier in the year. The website in question, www.masraniglobal.com, is the fake site of the fictional Masrani corporation, which it seems is behind building the Jurassic World theme park. It apparently has taken over the ill-fated InGen technologies, whose experiments with genetically reengineered dinosaurs went so well in the previous movies. But what's this we see? Reading through the faux corporate website, it appears Masrani's lucrative oil business, the self-explantory Masrani Oil Industries, is based right here in Abu Dhabi, complete with a stock photo of fictional director of operations Bakri Sarraf in full national dress, smiling and giving a demonstration of the company's fictional sustainability measures. "Established in the heart of Abu Dhabi, a port city in the middle of three continents, Masrani Oil has been sharing its resources to the rest of the world since 19s96," the site glows in questionable English. Apparently the fictional company already provides 21 per cent of the world's oil for transportation, and hopes to see cars and businesses in Abu Dhabi running entirely on solar energy in the not-too-distant future. When an oil company starts promoting solar energy, it becomes abundantly clear the site is fictional, but with such effort going into creating the Abu Dhabi arm of Masrani, is it too much to expect to see a T-Rex rampaging down the Corniche next year? The local industry is remaining tight-lipped about the possibilities, but you can rest assured we'll be doorstepping twofour54 and the Abu Dhabi Film Commission for more information as of now.
cnewbould@thenational.ae