The Spierig brothers’ ambitious action-adventure film, Jungle, will no longer be filmed this year after battling financing, weather and casting issues.
The filmmakers had already shot preliminary footage in Bolivia for the feature, which is based on the true story of young Australian Yossi Ghinsberg’s tale of survival, human fortitude and social manipulation after becoming lost in the Amazon jungle.
However, producer Chris Brown said the production – which had been scheduled to film in Bolivia in late-2011 – struggled to meet its proposed schedule.
“We’re all committed to other stuff and we basically ran out of road," Brown said. "It was very, very difficult – we had a lot of problems with it and we were up against a rainy season on top of everything else.”
Brown also said there were issues with the lead actor's schedule while a portion of the film’s private financing fell over. A sizeable production investment by Screen Australia (which it committed in July), will now also lapse. Brown said he now hoped cameras would be rolling in September 2012.
Jungle was backed by a strong filmmaking team with recent success. The Spierig brothers vampire sci-fi Daybreakers (which was also produced by Brown) grossed more than $US51 million around the world last year, according to Box Office Mojo. Producers Emile Sherman and Iain Canning, who snared the Best Picture Academy Award for global indie hit The King’s Speech, were also set to produce Jungle.
“It just goes to show nobody knows anything and nothing is certain,” Brown said. “It’s a very difficult business.”
Contact this reporter at bswift@www.if.com.au or on Twitter at @bcswift.
The Spierig brothers.