A major UAE casting agency is looking to fill roles in a “Hollywood blockbuster” being filmed in Liwa in Abu Dhabi. Miranda Davidson Studios, which has helped cast extras in major Hollywood films being shot in the UAE – from Furious 7 to Star Trek Beyond – has sent out a casting call for babies, children, teens and adult women.
While the company has not specified which film the calls are for, all signs point to space epic Dune: Part Three, which was earlier confirmed to be filming in the UAE capital. “The sweeping dunes of Liwa Desert return to the big screen as filming begins in Abu Dhabi later this year for the next chapter in the Dune saga,” Abu Dhabi Film Commission announced in August.
“The return of Dune to Abu Dhabi is proof of what smooth, world-class production support can achieve,” Sameer Al Jaberi, head of the commission, added.
Both Dune and Dune: Part Two, which were major box office blockbusters, were also shot in Abu Dhabi, with Liwa's vast open landscape serving as the setting for the fictional planet Arrakis. Stars Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Florence Pugh, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin are all set to return to film Dune: Part Three, joined by franchise newcomer Robert Pattinson.
While the exact dates of the shoots are to be confirmed, Miranda Davidson Studios said the expected job date for its casting call was between October and November.
The latest post on Wednesday was for a girl, between 3 and 5 years of age, with brown skin and curly hair, which the company said was “for a small role in a much anticipated Hollywood project filming in Liwa”.
The girl will serve as a “double” for the main child actor, Miranda Davidson said, with availability requested for 15 days between October 29 and November 12 in Liwa and Al Ain.
The actor will be paid Dh500 for filming and Dh200 for fitting, and will be required for a maximum of six hours including breaks.
Earlier, the agency was also looking for children aged between 4 and 5, and 12 and 13, who can pair up and look like twins, fitting the same skin colour and hair descriptions.
The company also put out a call for babies under two months old for “a major Hollywood film” being shot in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
A call for “slender and athletic” women, who have “dark brown to black wavy or curly hair, and tanned/olive skintone” also went out last month.
The descriptions fit those of the Fremen, the tribe that inhabits Arrakis, who are distinguished by their fierce fighting abilities and adeptness at surviving in their planet's harsh conditions. Frank Herbert, author of Dune from which the film is adapted, based the Fremen on the desert-dwelling Bedouin.
Zendaya and Bardem played Fremen in the film.
For Dune: Part Three, Creative Media Authority and Abu Dhabi Film Commission will provide logistical support, while Image Nation will be a production partner.
There was a significant jump in Abu Dhabi's involvement between the first and second films in the series. The first instalment – released in 2021 – comprised five days of filming in the emirate. For the second, the production team spent almost a month in the desert, building a “village” in Liwa with local support.
“What I found in Abu Dhabi is unmatchable. There’s a scale to the dunes and the desert in a variety of shapes that we thought was absolutely mesmerising,” director Denis Villeneuve said in 2021.
“There are also some climatic conditions there that were perfect for us because of the proximity to the city; it's like a strange kind of haze in the air that I was looking for that matched totally with the look of the film.”
