Sheikh Zayed, founding father of the UAE, is set to be the subject of a new biopic from Hollywood production house STX Films.

Shekhar Kapur, who previously directed Elizabeth: The Golden Age, will take on direction duties, while Entourage writer Cliff Dorfman will provide the script.

STX Films were unavailable for further comment over the weekend, however its chairman, Adam Fogelson, said in a statement announcing the film: “Patterned after great movies like Gandhi, Selma, and Darkest Hour, this project will tell the story of a dynamic, powerful personality who helped create historic change.”

STX films’ recent releases include global box office hits The Foreigner with Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan, A Bad Moms Christmasstarring Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn, the Academy Award-nominated Molly’s Game starring Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba, Den Of Thieves with Gerard Butler and Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson and I Feel Pretty starring Amy Schumer. Its latest release, the romantic drama Adrift, starring Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin, hits cinemas in the UAE this weekend.

It is currently unknown whether the movie will film in the UAE, or whether local talent actors or crew will take part in shooting.

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