An investigation by Al Jazeera revealed the details behind a Hollywood film co-produced by an UAE film company that was ridiculed as “immoral” and “ridiculous” for portraying Qatar as a “terrorist country”.

The Misfits, co-produced, filmed and funded by UAE-based FilmGate Production, Paramount Pictures and Highland Film Group, tells the story of the savvy thief Richard Pace, played by Pierce Brosnan, who escaped from the heavily guarded US prison. Continue to steal millions of dollars from the safest facilities in the world.

Tamer al-Mishal’s latest episode aired on Sunday reported on Al Jazeera’s investigation, revealing how the original script of the film was transformed into a promotion for Qatar.

According to the investigation, Qatar was mentioned more than 15 times in “Uncommunity” released in the United States in June, and real people and institutions in Qatar were mentioned, including Emadi Hospital, the country’s “Lekhwiya” police force and Al Jazeera.

The film also referred to Qatar as the “Peninsula” and accused its citizens of supporting “terrorist organizations”, while the mercenaries in Abu Dhabi were portrayed as heroes.

The script of the film portrays Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian Muslim scholar living in Qatar as “the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and a supporter of global terrorism.”

Doha News Report An article published in June quoted Egyptian journalist Mohamed Nasser as saying that in a video posted online, The Misfits was nothing more than an attempt by the UAE to “destroy Qatar’s reputation.”

A Twitter user who watched a leaked copy of the movie at the time described it as “ridiculous” and not worthy of feedback.

Although the film was shot in the UAE, it was reportedly edited to appear to be shot in Qatar [File: Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera]

Modify script

In the leaked exchange, it was reported that the UAE producer asked the American production company to modify the script to include more political topics and propaganda aimed at Qatar.

According to al-Mishal of Al Jazeera, a message sent to a US producer requested that the name of Qatari human rights advocate Abd al-Rahman al-Nuaimi be mentioned in the film, and that Qaradawi “also received a performance scene”.

Although the film was shot in the UAE, it was reportedly edited to appear to be shot in Qatar.

According to reports, the film’s financial support was also provided by a company owned by the UAE National Security Advisor. The son of UAE founder Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan revealed the investigation.

According to the investigation, the executive producer and co-star Rami Jaber of “Untimely” has filed a lawsuit against the UAE partner in the U.S. court for disagreements over the content of the film.

Leaked audio clips obtained by Al Jazeera show that Mansoor al-Dhaheri, the UAE producer and founder and CEO of FilmGate Productions and Al Kalema Productions, provided Jaber with large sums of money in exchange for him to abandon the lawsuit.

“I’ll give you more. Everything is normal on my side and I have no problems. About $100 million is not a problem for me,” Dhaheri said in the recording.

Dhaheri initially agreed to al-Meshal’s request to be interviewed by the show, but then did not answer al-Meshal’s call.

In a letter seen by Al Jazeera, the Al Kalema company of al-Daheri also requested that the original script of the film be modified to include a reference to the September 11, 2001 attack.

According to the investigation, it is reported that the American actor Wesley Snipes (Wesley Snipes) rejected the UAE’s offer to appear in the film because the film will target Qatar’s politicized content.

The film was released in Qatar and its neighboring countries a few months later Re-establish relationship Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates imposed a blockade of Doha for more than three years in 2017.

Qatar and UAE officials met in February this year for the first time since the easing. In January, the UAE resumed its air and sea entry points into Qatar.