''Kandahar'' is an upcoming American action thriller film directed by Ric Roman Waugh, written by Mitchell LaFortune, and produced by Gerard Butler, who also stars in the film alongside Ali Fazal. The film is scheduled to be released in theaters on May 26, 2023, by Open Road Films.

Plot

Tom Harris, an undercover

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

operative, is stuck deep in hostile territory in Afghanistan. When an intelligence leak exposes his identity and mission, he must fight his way out, alongside his Afghan translator, to an extraction point in

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

, all whilst avoiding the elite special forces tasked with hunting them down.

Cast

* Gerard Butler as Tom Harris * Olivia-Mai Barrett as Ida Harris *Rebecca Calder as Corrine Harris (voice) * Ali Fazal * Navid Negahban * Bahador Foladi as Farzad Asadi * Faizan Munawar Varya as Ahmed Nasiri *

Nina Toussaint-White Nina Toussaint-White is an English actress who has acted in ''Casualty,'' ''The Bill, and EastEnders.'' Early life Toussaint-White was raised in Plumstead, south east London, Toussaint-White was educated at Plumstead Manor School and Negus Sixth ...

* Travis Fimmel

Production

In June 2016, former military intelligence officer Mitchell LaFortune sold his spec script ''Burn Run'' to Thunder Road Films. He based it on his experiences working for the

Defense Intelligence Agency The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense, specializing in defense and military intelligence. A component of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the I ...

and being deployed to Afghanistan in 2013 during the

Snowden leaks Snowden may refer to: * Snowden (surname), a given name and a family name People * Edward Snowden, former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013 Music * Snowden ...

. In June 2020, it was announced Gerard Butler would produce and star in the film, which had been retitled ''Kandahar'', reteaming with ''

Angel Has Fallen ''Angel Has Fallen'' is a 2019 American action thriller film directed by Ric Roman Waugh. It is the third installment in the ''Has Fallen'' film series, following ''Olympus Has Fallen'' (2013) and ''London Has Fallen'' (2016). The film stars Ge ...

'' and ''

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

'' director Ric Roman Waugh. Ali Fazal and Navid Negahban joined the cast in December 2021. Filming commenced on December 2, 2021 in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. This made the film the first big-budget U.S. feature to shoot in the country's

Al-'Ula Al-'Ula ( ar, ٱلْعُلَا '), is a city of the Medina Region in north-western Saudi Arabia. Historically located on the incense route, the city lies within the Governorate of 'Ula ( ar, مُحَافَظَة ٱلْعُلَا, Muḥāfathat A ...

region.

and Bahador Foladi joined the cast later that same month. Filming wrapped in January 2022.

Release

In September 2022, Open Road Films acquired the film's U.S. distribution rights in an eight-figure deal. In January 2023, it was announced that the film would be released in theaters on May 26, 2023.

References

External links

* {{Ric Roman Waugh 2023 action thriller films 2020s American films 2020s chase films 2020s English-language films Action films based on actual events American action thriller films American chase films American films based on actual events Films about the Central Intelligence Agency Films directed by Ric Roman Waugh Films produced by Basil Iwanyk Films set in Afghanistan Films shot in Saudi Arabia Open Road Films films Thriller films based on actual events Thunder Road Films films Upcoming English-language films