Tom Hanks to star in Abu Dhabi film

Image Nation to fully finance Hollywood thriller, ‘The Circle’, based on Dave Eggers’ novel

Local production company Image Nation Abu Dhabi on Tuesday announced a deal to fully finance Tom Hank’s thriller The Circle. Directed and written by James Ponsoldt, Hanks will star alongside Alicia Vikander in feature adaptation of Dave Eggers’ novel.

The premise of the film will sound familiar to anyone who uses all-encompassing online services such as Google: A young woman is hired for a big job in an internet monopoly called the Circle, which links users’ personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing; it’s a thriller about the perils of life in a digital age where personal data is collected, sifted and monetised and used for surveillance, rendering privacy obsolete. Filming starts in August in California.

“The Circle is a fantastic modern-day thriller that shines a light on the role of the internet and our own identities in a world of increasing transparency and privacy issues. Image Nation is thrilled to be working with the Playtone team, as well as A Likely Story and James Ponsoldt, on its next international production,” said Michael Garin, CEO of Image Nation in a statement.

“Image Nation’s international projects have helped subsidise and build our local industry here in Abu Dhabi and the region, while creating opportunities for our local talent to work on large-scale international productions and this film will help continue that effort,” he added.

This project marks the second time Hanks has collaborated with Eggers. Hanks also starred in the Eggers’ adaptation A Hologram For the King, directed by Tom Tykwer. Hanks is also one of the producers of this film owing to his creative contribution to The Circle.