First Arabic Imax Film ‘Ambulance' Set for Sequel, With Ibrahim Al Hajjaj Returning (EXCLUSIVE)
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways
Popular Saudi Arabian actor and stand-up comic Ibrahim Al Hajjaj's new comedy 'Esaaf' ('Ambulance') directed by British helmer Colin Teague ('Doctor Who,' 'Torchwood'), is already set for a sequel with the same creative team.
'Ambulance' opened on Tuesday, becoming Imax's first Arabic feature film release. It marks Al Hajjaj's follow-up to 2023 wrestling movie 'Sattar,' which pulled more than $30 million, mostly from local markets. It is considered the highest-grossing Saudi film since the 35-year ban on the operation of commercial movie theaters was revoked in December 2017.
More from Variety
The new Al Hajjaj film is a screwball comedy, following two feuding Saudi paramedics who stumble upon a briefcase containing Saudi Arabian Riyal 2 million ($533,300) and become unwittingly entangled in a high-stakes kidnapping and ransom plot.
'Ambulance' is written by Alberto Lopez ('Rupture') and produced by Al Hajjaj's House of Comedy, Saudi producer Talal Anazi's Black Light Operations and former MBC Studios chief Peter Smith in tandem with Saudi Media Company. The innovative picture premiered on April 15 at Muvi Cinemas' Imax at U Walk in downtown Riyadh to a full house comprising press, Arab celebrities and industry insiders.
'Ambulance' will also be having its festival premiere in competition at the upcoming Saudi Film Festival, which is the oldest-running film event in the kingdom, and is set for wider distribution across the Gulf region and the Middle East in coming weeks.
Lopez said he is currently writing the 'Ambulance' sequel, which will be produced by Black Light and House of Comedy with tentative plans to shoot in October and release the film in Saudi in April 2026.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Susan Choi Recommends a Book So Engrossing It Made Her (Almost) Lose Her Luggage
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Welcome to Shelf Life, books column, in which authors share their most memorable reads. Whether you're on the hunt for a book to console you, move you profoundly, or make you laugh, consider a recommendation from the writers in our series, who, like you (since you're here), love books. Perhaps one of their favorite titles will become one of yours, too. What began as a short story in The New Yorker is now Susan Choi's sixth and latest novel, Flashlight, about a man who goes missing—and the resulting trauma for his family. Like the family in the book, Choi lived in Japan for a short period during her childhood. (Nor is this the first time she's shared autobiographical details with her characters: Her father was a math professor, like a character in 2003's A Person of Interest; she went to graduate school, the setting of 2013's My Education; and she attended a theater program in high school, as do the protagonists in 2019's National Book Award-winning Trust Exercise, for which she wrote at least 3 different endings.) Her second novel, 2004's American Woman, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and adapted into a film, and she has also written a children's book, Camp Tiger. Choi teaches in the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University and has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, yet one literary goal remains elusive: 'Trying to read 50 books a year,' she says. 'I've never achieved the goal and some years I don't even come close, but I love trying.' The Indiana-born, Texas-raised, New York-based bestselling author studied literature at Yale University; was once fired from a literary agency for being too much of a 'literary snob'; was a fact-checker at The New Yorker and co-edited Wonderful Town: New York Stories from The New Yorker with editor David Remnick; won an ASME Award for Fiction for 'The Whale Mother' in Harper's Magazine; and has two sons. Likes: theater; fabric stores; kintsugi; the Fort Greene Park Greenmarket; savory buns; flowers. Dislikes: being on stage; low-hovering helicopters. Good at: rocking her gray hair. Bad at: cleaning menorahs; coming up with book titles. Scroll through the reads she recommends below. It's not exactly a missed-the-train moment, but I was re-reading Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov while waiting on a train platform [once], and when the train pulled in I stood up, still reading, boarded the train, still reading, and sat down, still reading…until at some point, after the train pulled away, I realized that I had left my luggage on the platform. Philip Roth's Everyman. I never would have thought a novel about the bodily decline and eventual death of a hyper-masculine Jewish guy who mistreats many of the women in his life—a lot like Philip Roth—could make me literally heave-sob at the end. But this is why Roth is such an incredible writer: He makes us feel enormous compassion for people we don't even like. Jenny Erpenbeck's Visitation, which kaleidoscopically compresses the stormy history of 20th-century Germany into barely a hundred pages, while holding the focus steady on a single plot of land. It's one of those books that makes you want to write. All of Proust. Or even just some decent amount of Proust. I love the prose but also find it so exquisite it's almost unbearable to continue reading for any length of time, at least for me, which makes me feel like a total failure as a reader. I might have to set aside a year of my life just to read Proust. Sarah Moss's Ghost Wall is impossible to put down, and it's also so tensely coiled from the very beginning that reading it I sometimes forgot to breathe! In some ways it's a 'small' story—about a girl and her parents doing a crazy-seeming reenactment of prehistoric life in the English countryside—but then it turns out to be about the biggest things, like what it means to be a people, or a nation, or even human. Rachel Khong's Real Americans, which I am so riveted by that as soon as I finish these questions, I'm picking it back up. It's a story about three people who, despite how deeply they feel for each other—and how deeply we feel for them—cannot manage to be a family. My heart is already half-broken and I'm only halfway through it. Paul Beatty's The Sellout. I was sitting on the beach in Maui (the one time I have ever been to Maui), reading that book instead of swimming, and a stranger came up to me to ask what it was because apparently I was laughing so hard I'd attracted general attention. In Francisco Goldman's The Ordinary Seaman, two young guerilla fighters, boy and girl, fall madly in love and start having trysts in the back of an ambulance. The girl also has a pet squirrel that she's been carrying around in her bra, and, during the trysts, the squirrel runs frantically around the back of the ambulance. These are some of the funniest, wildest, most heartfelt sex scenes ever put on paper. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I read it every few years because it feels new every time and, at the same time, it feels so familiar, like returning to a favorite place. I love every single sentence in it, even the sentences that are totally over-the-top (and there are a lot of them!) because they remind me that Fitzgerald was actually a fallible human being, capable of writing very over-the-top sentences sometimes. Sigrid Nunez's A Feather on the Breath of God shocked me the first time I read it because it really felt like the book was looking at me, like it knew exactly who I was. The protagonist has, like me, a real culture-clash background, and up to the point in my life when I read the book—the '90s—I'd never encountered that in fiction, so it was very emotional when I finally did. Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie. Just read it. You'll thank me. Renee Gladman is one of my absolute favorite living writers/artists, yet I was totally unaware of her until maybe six years ago when I was recommended her work by an employee—I am so sorry I don't know his name—at my local indie bookstore. Now it feels unimaginable to me that I ever lived my life without Renee Gladman! Everything by Ali Smith, and Ali Smith herself. She is such a brilliant, compassionate, elating observer of us humans and the strange things we do. The London Library. A friend who's a member showed it to me a few years ago, and I never wanted to leave. Maybe they'll set up a hammock for me! PEN America, because they support freedom of expression, which none of us can take for granted anymore.$14.40 at at at at at at at at at at You Might Also Like The 15 Best Organic And Clean Shampoos For Any And All Hair Types 100 Gifts That Are $50 Or Under (And Look Way More Expensive Than They Actually Are)


New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Inside Prince William's plans for cousins Beatrice and Eugenie once he becomes king
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are being 'kept on ice' ahead of Prince William's inevitable ascension to the British throne, The Post is told. As it stands, the sisters — who are 9th and 12th in line to the throne, respectively — are not working members of the Firm. However, experts have long said that the Prince of Wales, 42, could call his cousins into action once he becomes king. Advertisement 5 Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are being 'kept on ice' ahead of Prince William's inevitable ascension to the British throne, The Post understands. UK Press via Getty Images 'They're valuable assets and I'm certain they'll get involved with royal duties when William becomes king,' Ingrid Seward, royal author and editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, said via GB News. 'I'm sure they would like to do more, and they're waiting in the wings to be asked.' Advertisement Seward last week said she's 'certain' that Beatrice, 36, and Eugenie, 35, will 'get involved with royal duties' once William ascends the throne. 'It makes perfect sense, because he will need them,' Seward told Hello! Magazine. 'I see them as a sort of double act, working together in the same way as married couples do. Two gorgeous Princesses working together as sisters would be very powerful. I think it would be wonderful, and I think it will happen.' 5 The sisters, who are 9th and 12th in line to the throne, respectively, are currently not working members of the Firm. UK Press via Getty Images Advertisement Indeed, palace sources tell The Post that the sisters are 'well aware' of the plans William has in store for them. The future king, who has long championed a leaner monarchy, is reportedly crafting his own blueprint for the next generation of working royals. Experts believe William may be forced to reconsider his plans for a slimmed-down monarchy, given the absence of his estranged brother, Prince Harry. And while Beatrice and Eugenie — whose parents are Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson — aren't working members of the royal family, the duo often steps up in an unofficial capacity when needed. Advertisement 5 Experts have long said that the Prince of Wales, 42, could call his cousins into action once he becomes king. WireImage The pair last month hosted a series of garden parties at Buckingham Palace, shortly before the King's Foundation announced Eugenie as a mentor for its new '35 Under 35' network of changemakers. Beatrice, for her part, joined King Charles and Queen Camilla at an event celebrating the work of Elephant Family in Kew Gardens — a conservation charity founded by Camilla's late brother, Mark Shand. 'I think they would be open to doing more, because they like to give back,' Seward said of the sisters, adding that they are 'being kept on ice.' 5 Palace sources tell The Post that the sisters are 'well aware' of the plans William has in store for them.'They have always been close to William, and the King is very fond of them too,' she continued. 'I see them taking on the sort of role that Princess Alexandra and the Duchess of Kent had when they were younger, working very hard doing philanthropic work, but not taking center stage.' Seward added that both Beatrice and Eugenie could be 'much higher profile' than they are currently once William becomes king. 'I think people see them as a couple of really charming young married women who are relatable and aren't entitled,' she explained. 'And I think people feel for them because they've got this family problem, with their father, which is very embarrassing and difficult for them.' Advertisement Royal commentator Richard Eden previously claimed that William is 'starting to see the value' of his cousins and their potential long-term contributions to the monarchy. 'From what I'm hearing, Prince William is starting to see the value of his cousins and what, in the long term, they could give,' Eden wrote in the Daily Mail. 5 Experts believe William may be forced to reconsider his plans for a slimmed-down monarchy, given the absence of his estranged brother, Prince Harry. Samir Hussein/WireImage Advertisement 'They're doing more and more. They're private duties really, in terms of charity work, but I think Prince William and his father are noticing this and appreciating it.' Eden suggested that William could soon be making announcements about the sisters' future roles within the monarchy, adding that it's an 'exciting time' for them.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
The dads we love: 7 famous fathers putting their own spin on parenting
Dads are getting their due this week. Ahead of Father's Day this Sunday (that's your cue to sort out the obligatory World's Best Dad mug, grilling doodad or the same polo shirt you've been gifting 15 years running), we wanted to dig a little deeper into what fatherhood looks like in 2025. Research finds that, compared to 20 years ago, dads today spend about an hour more per week with their kids. (That's especially significant considering that the weekly total for fathers who share a home with their children is 7.8 hours; for those who live separately, it's just 36 minutes.) And while by and large, moms are still considered the default parent in their families — the ones who make the doctors' appointments, arrange playdates and get a call from school — there's been a small, gradual shift. In the era of intensive parenting, dads, too, are becoming more hands-on. Using Yahoo's recent polling with YouGov, Yahoo National Correspondent Andrew Romano has a breakdown of how evolving family dynamics are playing out in homes across America. We've also sat down with several well-known fathers (and one skateboarding grandpa, Tony Hawk) to learn more about how they 'dad.' For comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, it's prioritizing firm rules over gentle parenting as he ferries his kids to Little League games and gymnastics practice. Alfonso Ribeiro is taking cues from his TV dad, Uncle Phil, and actor Hill Harper is leaning on his village for support as a single dad. Influencer Jesse Sullivan is showing the world that life as a trans dad is more relatable than people might think. Lastly, newly retired Olympic diver Tom Daley is enjoying having more time to be with his boys, while content creator Strider Patton's determination to braid his daughter's hair has spawned a girl dad movement. Get to know these dads — our Pop Patrol, if you will — a little better: