The book deals with the aftermath of the Oman civil war and the role played by the British SAS. In the book, an Omani Sheikh supposedly orchestrates a series of secret revenge assassinations of SAS soldiers who had been involved with the death of his son during the war. The ex-SAS boys then defend themselves.
And now it seems it will be made into a movie! Cool.
Most people in the UK have no idea about the rather nasty shooting war their country played a key role in during the Sultan's struggle to unify the country in the 70s.
Statham is a relatively big star these days, and the action movie will probably be the first time millions will learn of the Sultanate.
Unfortunately it looks like the desert scenes will be filmed in Australia rather than here.
Come on Oman!
Talk to the producers and get some of the filming done here. Maybe that way you can make sure Oman gets a good tourist boost out of it, as well as some work for struggling Omani thespians...
Jason Statham joins 'The Killer Elite'
Friday, May 15 2009, 13:08 BST
By Alex Fletcher, Senior Entertainment Reporter
Jason Statham has signed up to star in $40 million action thriller The Killer Elite, reports Variety.
The project, which is based on Ranulph Fiennes's novel The Featherman, will be directed by Everything In This Country Must's Gary McKendry.
Fiennes's book, based on real events, tells the story of former British special forces members who are being hunted down by assassins called The Clinic on the orders of the ex-Shah of Oman.
Statham will play an ex-Navy Seal who comes out of retirement to save a close friend.
Shooting is expected to begin in London, Paris and Australia in the autumn.
I'll confess I don't know the book but my guess is that banning this film would not necessarily constitute a big blow to quality cinema.
ReplyDeleteAn ex-US Navy Seal who has to save the ass of ex- British SAS. I like the plot already. Abd
ReplyDeletewhat is an ex-shah? isn't that Iranian?
ReplyDeleteOO
ReplyDeleteFair point. But trash movies have to be made somewhere.
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lol
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You can see how deep the research goes eh? There are muppets everywhere mate.
Remember, most people have never heard of Oman, and most of those that have know sweet FA about the differences cf UAE/Saudi et al. But just that its sunny, hot, safe, with booze and bikinis, and still excitingly exotic middle east.
I like Statham. Although am not entirely sure how well he will get on with the American accent.
ReplyDeleteAmericans.........they do my head in ;)
ROP and Bangalore police investigation into Bangalore blast case:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=The+Pakistan+files+of+Bangalore+blasts+case&artid=ktiJTzW8yDA=&SectionID=Qz/kHVp9tEs=&MainSectionID=b7ziAYMenjw=&SectionName=UOaHCPTTmuP3XGzZRCAUTQ==&SEO=LeT
The Bangalore police have identified three Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commanders among the Pakistan-based militants who were involved in the Bangalore serial blasts of July 25, during interrogation of the arrested accused.
The interrogation has revealed that Rehan alias Shameem (35), Muslim Basheer (55) and Haroon (35), all LeT commanders in charge of its Gulf operations, were involved in the Bangalore serial blasts. Three other foreign nationals involved in the blasts have been identified as Saleem and Jaheed (55) from Bangladesh and Ali Abdul Azeez Hooti (35) from Oman.
Muslim Basheer (55), now settled in Ruwi area of Muscat was the chief executive of HTV worldwide broadcasting.
Another Pakistani Haroon (35), was taking care of Haj travel packages in Moon Travels in Muscat. Jaheed of Bangladesh is a hawala agent.
The Pakistani national Wali alias Rehan alias Shameem (35), an LeT member is in charge of the Gulf region operated from Muscat according to earlier articles.
A great story, however, a little pissed off to learn that a yank will 'save the day' - no doubt in typical yank fashion; completely straying from what really happened. If only people knew that in real life this plot is usually the other way round.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, one of the featured heli pilots is buried at PDO (obviously no mention of any involvement)
Hiking up a wadi on Jabal Akhdar, we came across a British bomb! It was still stuck in the ground. It was very very rusted, but the markings were easy to read. The body of it was breached, so there was no danger of it exploding. Anyway, it was an actual physical artifact of this event in history.
ReplyDeleteI wish all would read the book, and get a true understanding on what is really about!!!
ReplyDeleteThe book cause a lot of anger among the SAS. The author wrote a work of fiction, but used the real names of several people in the SAS. They were not pleased. There is no truth in the book.
ReplyDelete