Saudi Star Ibrahim Al Hajjaj Talks Following Up Record-Breaking Comedy ‘Sattar’ With ‘Ambulance’ That Will Be First Arabic Imax Release (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comNick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi actor and stand-up comedian Ibrahim Al Hajjaj recently became the kingdom’s biggest box office draw as protagonist of groundbreaking comedy “Sattar” in which he played a man whose floundering personal and professional life prompts him to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a freestyle wrestler.
As a followup, Al Hajjaj will next star in “Ambulance,” a screwball comedy directed by British helmer Colin Teague (“Doctor Who,” “Torchwood”) that follows two Saudi paramedics who stumble upon a briefcase containing Saudi Arabian Riyal 2 million ($533,300) in Riyadh, the kingdom’s capital.
The film – which is written by Alberto Lopez (“Rupture”) and produced by Al Hajjaj’s House of Comedy and Saudi producer Talal Anazi’s Black Light Operations and former MBC Studios chief Peter Smith in tandem with Muvi Studios – will be the first Arabic-language Imax release.
It is set to open in Saudi Arabian cinemas on April 17. During the recent Red Sea Film Festival in the coastal Saudi city of Jeddah, Al Hajjaj took questions from Variety about “Ambulance” and what the film aims to say about societal changes currently underway in Saudi. How did “Ambulance“ originate creatively?
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