By Sam Dallas
Two Australian action flicks are making their way to Canadian screens.
Stuart Beattie’s Tomorrow, When The War Began and Gary McKendry's The Killer Elite – which stars Clive Owen and Robert De Niro – have been picked up by Entertainment One through LA-based sales company Inferno Entertainment.
The deal was negotiated by Inferno Entertainment’s international sales president Kimberly Fox and Entertainment One’s Lara Thompson.
The $66 million film, backed by Omnilab and shot in Melbourne, stars legendary actor De Niro, Owen and Jason Statham as well as Australians including Ben Mendelsohn and is expected to hit Canadian screens in the latter half of 2011.
The Killer Elite follows the exploits of a group of Black Ops agents for hire who must hunt down and destroy a rogue cell of SAS killer assassins and their covert handlers. The script is based on Sir Ranulph Fiennes’ 1993 non fiction novel The Feather Men.
The film – produced by Michael Boughen through Omnilab’s Australian production arm, Ambience Entertainment – was funded through the Producer Offset – which returns up to 40 per cent of qualifying expenditure – and with rebate assistance from Film Victoria.
Tomorrow, When The War Began crept past Bran Nue Dae in September to become this year’s biggest Aussie movie at the local box office. It has now made more than $13.3 million Down Under and more than $1.3 million in New Zealand.
The $27 million (est) film, also produced by Ambience Entertainment, tells the tale of a group of teenagers who go on a camping trip, only to return home and find their country has been invaded by an unknown army.