Liam Neeson’s latest action-thriller The Mongoose is set to begin an eight-week shoot across Melbourne and regional Victoria from late-January.
It is the third film that the 72 year-old action star has made in Victoria over the past four years after Blacklight in 2020 and Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky in 2024.
The Mongoose stars Neeson as Ryan “Fang” Flanagan, a war hero accused of a crime he didn’t commit. With nothing to lose, he leads police on an epic televised cross-country car chase that wins over the public.
The production will be based at Melbourne Screen Hub’s recently expanded Footscray location. The film is expected to create 453 screen jobs, including 12 locals in Head of Department roles, 16 cast and 222 casuals and extras.
The Mongoose will receive VicScreen’s Victorian Screen Rebate and the federal government’s 30 per cent Location Offset.
The film’s estimated local expenditure of more than $19 million suggests it may have benefited from the government’s decision to reverse the Location Offset’s minimum threshold from $20 million to $15 million last month.
The Mongoose reunites Neeson with Code Entertainment, which produced Ice Road and Ice Road 2: Road to Sky. The film is being directed by veteran stunt professional Mark Vanselow, who has been nominated twice for best stunt ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild awards (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull).
The script is written by Thompson Evans (Reckoning). Code Entertainment’s Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt, and Eugene Musso are producing. Jonathan Dana is executive producer with Code’s Rich Freeman, and Jupiter Peak Productions’ Steven Shapiro and Liz and Ken Whitney. Lisa Wilson and Craig Chapman of The Solution Entertainment Group are also executive producers.