Valley of the Wolves: Iraq

Valley Of The Wolves: Iraq
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySerdar Akar
Sadullah Şentürk
Written byRaci Şaşmaz
Bahadır Özdener
Soner Yalçın (concept creator)
Produced byRaci Şaşmaz
StarringNecati Şaşmaz
Billy Zane
Ghassan Massoud
Gary Busey
Diego Serrano
Gürkan Uygun
Bergüzar Korel
CinematographySelahattin Sancaklı
Edited byKemalettin Osmanlı
Music byGökhan Kırdar
Release date
  • February 3, 2006 (2006-02-03)
Running time
122 min.
CountryTurkey
LanguagesTurkish
English
Arabic
German
Kurdish
Budget$14,000,000
Box office$27,900,000

Valley of the Wolves: Iraq (Turkish: Kurtlar Vadisi: Irak) is a 2006 Turkish action film directed by Serdar Akar and starring Necati Şaşmaz, Billy Zane and Ghassan Massoud. The story concerns a Turkish commando team which goes to Iraq to track down the US military commander responsible for the Hood event.

The film is set during the occupation of Iraq and includes references to other real events such as the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. The film, which went on nationwide general release across Turkey on February 3, 2006 (2006-02-03), was the highest-grossing Turkish films of 2006 and is one of the most expensive Turkish films ever made.

It is part of the Valley of the Wolves media franchise, based on the Turkish television series of the same name, and was followed by Valley of the Wolves: Gladio (2008) and Valley of the Wolves: Palestine (2010).[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Filmed with a budget of $14 million, this was the most expensive Turkish film ever made at the time of its release before being surpassed by A.R.O.G.[4] The film grossed $27.9 million at the box office — $25.1 million in Turkey and $2.8 million in Europe.

Opinions of the film greatly varied. While the Wall Street Journal characterized it as "a cross between American Psycho in uniform and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion",[8] Turkey's parliamentary speaker Bülent Arınç described it as "absolutely magnificent".[9]

  1. ^ Harding, Luke (2002-09-14). "Afghan Massacre Haunts Pentagon". The Guardian.
  2. ^ Tugend, Tom (May 3, 2010). "'Anti-Jewish' Turkish film pulled from US theaters". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  3. ^ Geraghty, Jim (February 8, 2006). "Anti-American Trash". The New York Sun. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  4. ^ a b Arsu, Sebnem (February 14, 2006). "If You Want a Film to Fly, Make Americans the Heavies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  5. ^ van Gelder, Lawrence (February 25, 2006). "Turkish Film Pulled From German Screens". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  6. ^ Staff (February 21, 2006). "Anti-American movie stars Hollywood actors". NBC News. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  7. ^ Özdemir, Cem (February 22, 2006). "Controversy Over Turkish Movie". Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  8. ^ Staff (February 10, 2006). "Turkish Delight". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  9. ^ Zacharia, Janine (April 25, 2006). "Rice Wants Turkey to Challenge Anti-U.S. Views, Support Iraq". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2010-03-05.