The Kingdom, 2007, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper
The Kingdom is a 2007 film directed by Peter Berg and starring Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Ashraf Barhom, and Ali Suliman. It was co-produced by Academy Award nominated director Michael Mann.
The film is fictional, but inspired by bombings at the Riyadh compound (May 12, 2003) and the Khobar housing complex (June 26, 1996) in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The story follows a team of FBI agents who are sent to investigate the bombing of a foreign-workers facility. Screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan has summarized the plot as "What would a murder investigation look like on Mars?”
The film was screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival as its yearly 'Surprise Movie' on 22 August 2007.
The film has been rated R by the MPAA for "Intense Sequences of Graphic Brutal Violence and Language". It received ratings of MA15+ in Australia and 15 in the United Kingdom.
The film grossed an estimated $17.6 million in 2,732 theaters on opening weekend, ranking #2 at the U.S. and Canadian box office. On October 17. 2007 it estimated $40 million in 2,836 theaters.
Prior to filming, director Peter Berg spent two weeks doing research for the film in Saudi Arabia. Filming commenced July 10, 2006, on the west side of the old Maricopa County Courthouse in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Additional scenes were being filmed concurrently in Mesa, Arizona; the scenes at the American compound were shot at the Polytechnic campus of Arizona State University. In some of the trailer frames, saguaro cacti are visible in the background.
Following filming on August 12, a crew member died when the utility vehicle (Gator 4x2) he was driving was hit by a sport utility vehicle carrying the director on Arizona State Route 202, in Mesa.
On-location filming took place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for two weeks in mid-September. Since Universal Pictures does not have an office in the Middle East, the production was facilitated by a local production firm called Filmworks, based in Dubai. Filming also took place at the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi.Wikipedia
