Who would've thought that we would one day see a movie with Monica Bellucci, Salman Khan, and Sanjay Dutt? Well, Belgian filmmaker Adil El Arbi and Belgian-Moroccan filmmaker Bilall Fallah – known for "Bad Boys for Life" and "Bad Boys: Ride or Die" – imagined just that.
In what is being touted as the most expensive Arab-language movie ever made, "7 Dogs", the trio is part of a big international cast. Its two main leads are, however, Egyptian actors Ahmed Ezz and Karim Abdel Aziz. Respectively playing an Interpol agent and a crime kingpin, the duo is forced into an uncomfortable alliance when a weaponised new drug enters the Middle East. It's a narrative that spans multiple countries and action sequences. Bellucci, Khan, and Dutt appear as characters that the "buddies" have to meet in the course of their objective.
The film, reportedly made on a budget of $40 million, is also noted for breaking two Guinness World Records — for the biggest explosion in cinema history (previously held by the Daniel Craig James Bond film "Spectre") and most high explosives detonated in a single take (beating another Craig Bond movie "No Time to Die").
It goes without saying that no CGI were employed. The team shot at Riyadh's Al-Hosn Big Time Studios in Saudi Arabia. The record-breaking explosion entailed a massive blast equivalent to 170.7 tonnes of TNT. The explosives involved amounted to 405.85 kilograms.
According to the official Guinness World Records listing, the record-breaking stunt was orchestrated by special effects supervisor Duncan Capp and his team at IFX International Special Effects LLC. The single-take sequence involved 21,200.60 litres of petrol distributed across 20 custom IBC containers, 325 kilograms of Nitram Emulsion, over 3,998 meters of detonation cord, and 20 tonnes of bentonite clay to realistically simulate massive earth eruptions and debris flying through the air. The live blast led to the disintegration of multiple tractor-trailer units and box trucks.
"7 Dogs" will internationally start rolling next week, in time for Eid Al-Adha. IMAX sneak previews are reportedly set for May 19–20 ahead of its official theatrical release on multiple dates: May 27 in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, & other Middle East regions; May 28 in India; June 25 in Turkey. The release in other markets is expected to follow soon after.