Film "The Seven Dogs" to Premiere in Eid Al-Fitr Movie Marathon

The release date for Egyptian stars Karim Abdel Aziz and Ahmed Ezz's highly anticipated action thriller film "The Seven Dogs" has been unveiled.

The film is set to premiere in the cinemas during the 2026 Eid al-Fitr movie marathon. 

Belgian and Moroccan filmmaking duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are helming the film from a script by Mohamed El-Dabbah.

The filmmaking duo are used to breaking records. Their 2020 blockbuster "Bad Boys For Life" is the highest grossing film in the franchise, making in excess of $426.5m, while back home in Belgium, the 2018 hit "Gangsta" is one of the most successful local films in the territory since the 1980s.

The pair broke records of a different kind during the shoot of "The Seven Dogs" in Saudi Arabia earlier this year.

In stunts staged in the desert outside of Riyadh, the production earned Guinness World Records for the “largest film stunt explosion in the history of cinema” and “the most explosives detonated in a single film take”, dethroning previous recordholders "No Time To Die" (2021) and "Spectre" (2015).

The detonations overseen by explosives expert Duncan Capp (Batman Begins) and his team at IFX International Special Effects LLC, used 170.7 tonnes of TNT equivalent, for an explosion close in size to the 2020 Beirut blast, and 405.85 kg of TNT equivalent respectively

The movie, with an official budget of $40M, which is rumored to be skirting $70m, is also breaking fresh ground as one of the most ambitious home-grown movies to be shot in Saudi Arabia since the lifting of its cinema ban in 2017.

Abdel Aziz and Ezz lead an international cast also featuring Monica Bellucci, Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Max Huang, Tara Emad, and Sandy Bella.

It also features special appearances from Hannah El Zahed, Menna Shalaby, Hala Sedki, and more.

Ezz plays an Interpol officer opposite Aziz as a member of a clandestine global crime syndicate known as 7 Dogs. The natural enemies are forced to join forces to stop the circulation of a dangerous new drug across the Middle East.

The action thriller is based on a story by the head of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority Turki Al-Sheikh and the Big Time team.

"The Seven Dogs" is produced by the film arm of entertainment and hospitality company Sela and sponsored by GEA and Riyadh Season, with post-production by L.A.-based VFX giant Company 3.

Alalshikh executive produces alongside Abdulelah Alqurashi and Adnan A. Kayal, with long-time Guy Richie collaborator Ivan Atkinson (Aladdin, The Gentlemen, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare) on board as a producer with support from Cyrus Patel (Tehran, ’83) as a line producer.

The project is sponsored by the Saudi General Entertainment Authority and is the first film to be shot in Big Time Al-Husn Studios, one of the MENA region’s biggest film and television production facilities, with additional shooting at Riyadh Boulevard.

Riyadh will serve as a stand-in for multiple international cities, including Mumbai and Shanghai.

The project is hailed as a game-changer for Saudi Arabia as it continues its drive to become the Middle East and North Africa’s biggest film and TV hub.

It is produced by Jeddah-based entertainment company Sela, with Ivan Atkinson leading production.

Production Services by Black Bear. Ivan Atkinson, whose credits include The Covenant and The Gentlemen, serves as the producer of the film.

Cinematography is by Robrecht Heyvaert, production design by Paul Kirby, costume design by Beatrice Giannini and Mark Bouman and hair & make-up by Jacqueline Russon. Duncan Capp serves as the SFX Supervisor.

The stunts are crafted by the 87Eleven team, led by the stunt coordinator Stephen Dunlevy, whose credits include Mad Max: Fury Road and John Wick.

The shooting was also held at the privately-owned Al Athriya palace, north of Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport.

The experienced line producer previously worked in Saudi Arabia on Agustí Villaronga’s 2019 historical coming-of-age drama "Born A King", about the late Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud’s diplomatic trip to London in 1919 when he was a young boy.

Alongside crew from the UK, U.S., Spain, Belgium and the MENA region, around 25 crew members hail from Saudi Arabia.

El Arbi and Fallah have worked in the MENA region before, partly shooting their 2022 film Rebel in Jordan, but Fallah said they were both attracted to the idea of making a bigger commercial movie wholly set and shot in the Middle East.

The duo also brought their longtime cinematographer Robrecht Heyvaert (Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Rebel) on board the project as well as several Jordanian and Palestinian crew members from the Jordan Rebel shoot for 7 Dogs.

Other heads of department included production designer Paul Kirby (Kingsman: The Secret Service, and Captain Phillips), costume designers Beatrice Giannini (Hannibal) and Mark Bouman (Wonka, Bridgerton) and Hair & Make-Up Designer Jacqueline Russon (Pearl Harbor, The Little Mermaid).

Fallah also highlighted the work of stunt experts 87Eleven, led by the stunt coordinator Stephen Dunlevy, whose credits include Mad Max: Fury Road and John Wick.

The Al-Hisn Big Time Studios spanning 10,500 square meters, features a VP volume with a 15m 360-degree turntable, an overhead rain system, and more than 300 sqm of LED panels; a multi-use studio space spanning 5,000 square meters which can be divided into three studios with movable partitions, an indoor water tank and an outdoor pool.