Quiet Abu Dhabi street transforms into War Machine film set

A quiet residential street in Abu Dhabi has been transformed into a military fortress as part of Brad Pitt’s upcoming blockbuster War Machine.

The tight one-way road, off 15th Street and parallel to Sultan Bin Zayed the First, has been cordoned off by police since Monday, with one old building featuring an “American embassy in Kabul” plaque.

Shooting is reportedly set to continue at the location until November 5.

At noon Wednesday, three burly actors in combat gear stood as sentries at the gate armed with what appeared to be M-16s. On set was a catering van emblazoned with the words “Golden Crown”, a restaurant on Hamdan street.

According to sources on the site, the street will also double as a Palestinian border crossing, and will be the scene of an action sequence.

“I hear there will be shooting and also one bomb here in the ‘embassy’ in two or three days,” said a Pakistani resident who lives nearby. “They say there will be lots of action here soon.”

The beginning of the Abu Dhabi shoot this week emerged from an unlikely source: Ann Michod, a relative of director David Michod, who confirmed the news in a tweet on October 19.

“The War Machine crew have arrived in Abu Dhabi for the second half of the shoot, should be there for six weeks,” she posted.

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