Kandahar (2023 film)

Kandahar

Company type	Film
Industry	Motion picture
Founded	2023
Founder	Mitchell LaFortune (screenplay), Ric Roman Waugh (director), Gerard Butler (producer and star)
Key people	Ric Roman Waugh (director), Gerard Butler (producer and star), Mitchell LaFortune (screenwriter)
Products	Film
Parent	Thunder Road Films, Open Road Films

Kandahar, referred to as Mission Kandahar in the Canadian market, is a 2023 American espionage action thriller directed by Ric Roman Waugh with a screenplay by Mitchell LaFortune. The film stars and is produced by Gerard Butler, supported by a cast that includes Ali Fazal, Navid Negahban, Bahador Foladi, among others. Inspired loosely by real-life incidents, the storyline centers on a CIA agent and his interpreter who must escape Afghanistan after their secret operation is compromised.

The movie premiered in theaters on May 26, 2023, distributed by Open Road Films.

Plot

Tom Harris operates as a freelance CIA agent who successfully plants malware within an Iranian nuclear site while posing as a Swiss communications technician. This act of sabotage leads to the destruction of the facility, effectively halting Iran’s progress in nuclear development.

Subsequent to the attack, Luna Cujai, a British journalist, is detained by Iranian authorities after receiving whistleblower documents linking the CIA to the incident. Tom’s colleague Oliver is killed by Iranian forces once their identities are revealed.

Tom escapes from Iran through Dubai en route to London but experiences delays and encounters his CIA handler Roman Chalmers, who proposes a high-paying mission in Herat, Afghanistan.

While in Herat, a leak exposes Tom as the saboteur, forcing the mission to be abandoned. Roman instructs Tom and his Afghan-American translator Mohammad "Mo" Doud to head toward an extraction point in Kandahar. They come under pursuit from Iranian and Pakistani operatives intent on capturing or ransoming Tom, surviving several attacks including a helicopter assault where Tom eliminates Farzad, an Iranian security commander.

Traveling on foot, they seek assistance from an Afghan warlord not affiliated with the Taliban despite strained relations. Roman arrives covertly with Afghan commandos disguised as ISIS-K militants to provide support.

Tom and Mo are captured by a Taliban leader allied with Pakistani intelligence but are rescued during a CIA-supported assault led by Roman. While escaping to the extraction site, Roman sustains fatal injuries defending the group.

A CIA missile strike neutralizes pursuing Taliban forces, allowing Tom and Mo to flee aboard a British military cargo aircraft. Meanwhile, Luna is freed and Tom reunites with his family.

Cast

• Gerard Butler as Tom Harris
• Navid Negahban portraying Mohammad "Mo" Doud
• Ali Fazal as Kahil Nasir, an ISI operative
• Bahador Foladi playing Farzad Asadi
• Nina Toussaint-White as Luna Cujai
• Vassilis Koukalani as Bashar Hamadani
• Mark Arnold in the role of Mark Lowe
• Tom Rhys Harries as Oliver Altman
• Corey Johnson portraying Chris Hoyt
• Travis Fimmel as Roman Chalmers
• Ravi Aujla playing Siraj Agha
• Ray Haratian as Ismail Rabbani
• Olivia-Mai Barrett in the role of Ida Harris
• Rebecca Calder portraying Corrine Harris
• Faizan Munawar Ibrahim as Ahmed Nasiri
• Elnaaz Norouzi playing Shina Asadi

Production

In June 2016, Mitchell LaFortune, a former military intelligence officer, sold his spec script titled Burn Run to Thunder Road Films. The story draws heavily from his 2013 Afghanistan deployment and tenure at the Defense Intelligence Agency. By June 2020, it was announced that Gerard Butler would both produce and star in the film—renamed Kandahar—reuniting with director Ric Roman Waugh, known for Angel Has Fallen and Greenland.

The casting of Ali Fazal and Navid Negahban was confirmed in December 2021. Principal photography commenced on December 2, 2021, in Saudi Arabia, marking a milestone as the first major American production to shoot in locations such as Al-Ula and Jeddah. Later that month, Nina Toussaint-White and Bahador Foladi joined the cast. Filming wrapped up in January 2022. The production benefited from the Saudi Film Commission’s 40% cash rebate program to manage expenses efficiently.

Release

In September 2022, Open Road Films acquired the U.S. distribution rights for the movie through a deal valued in the eight figures. The film was scheduled to premiere in theaters on May 26, 2023. Kandahar was subsequently released on digital platforms on June 16, 2023, with Blu-ray and DVD editions becoming available on July 18, 2023.

Box office

Kandahar accumulated $4.8 million domestically across the United States and Canada, alongside $4.6 million from international markets, resulting in a global total of $9.4 million.

Its North American release coincided with films such as The Little Mermaid and The Machine. On opening day, it generated $921,000 across 2,105 theaters, followed by an opening weekend gross of $2.3 million and a four-day Memorial Day holiday total of $2.8 million.

Critical response

On aggregate review platforms, Kandahar holds an approval rating of 45% on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 52 out of 100. Audience feedback collected by CinemaScore assigned it a "B+" grade, while PostTrak recorded a 75% positive rating with 36% of respondents indicating they would definitely recommend the film.