Tom Hanks finishes Egyptian shoot for “A Hologram for the King”July 22, 2014 - 14:56 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Tom Hanks has finished shooting scenes for A Hologram for the King in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Hurghada, according to the president of the Egyptian Film Center, The Hollywood Reporter said. Egypt's MENA news agency on Saturday, July 19 reported that Hanks had started shooting the film — based on the novel by Dave Eggers — having arrived in the country last week. Local newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm added that Hanks had slept aboard a yacht in the Red Sea during production, with the actor telling the publication that it was his first visit to the area. Kamal Abdel Aziz, president of the Egypt's National Film Center as well as a director of photography, confirmed that Hanks is leaving the country Monday. "He finished everything that was needed, and everything went well," he told The Hollywood Reporter, adding that the shoot had used underwater cameras in the Red Sea, a popular diving resort that has seen its international visitors number decline in recent years following Egypt's 2011 revolution. "We need to show that shooting in Egypt is easy for foreign productions," said Abdel Aziz. "We want to welcome international films to shoot by the Pyramids, the Nile, the Red Sea, the desert, Alexandria. We have a variety of locations." As part of this new drive to attract international productions, Abdel Aziz claimed that the National Film Centre pushed through all the necessary permission documents for A Hologram for the King in 72 hours. "It's a new change for us, from the Egyptian Film Centre," he said. "It's now very easy to come in and out with equipment." In addition to Hanks' shoot, Abdel Aziz claimed that Egypt recently welcomed a team from Ridley Scott's upcoming biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings to film in Luxor. "They stayed for about 10 days," he said. Written and directed by Tom Tykwer, A Hologram for the King is adapted from Eggers' 2012 book about a struggling U.S. businessman who travels to Saudi Arabia in a desperate attempt to secure an I.T. equipment contract with the King Abdullah Economic City being built near Jeddah. The cast also includes Sarita Choudhury (Homeland), Omar Elba (Intelligence), Tracey Fairaway (Enough Said), David Menkin (Zero Dark Thirty) and Tom Skerritt (Ted, Top Gun). Shooting began in Morocco last month, while The Hollywood Reporter offered the first exclusive image from the film at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Photo: DDA Public Relations Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. Ucom equips four bus stops in Ijevan with free Wi-Fi Ucom now provides free Wi-Fi coverage in smart bus stops in four communities of Ijevan. Armenia, Russia discuss life extension of Metsamor nuclear plant Issues regarding the extension of life of the 2nd power unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant were discussed in Yerevan. Armenians stage more campaigns against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan Protesters blocked more roads across Armenia on Friday, April 26 in continuing attempts to scuttle territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. |