Travis Fimmel (Photo: Gage Skidmore from via Wikimedia Commons).
A film about Vietnam’s Battle of Long Tan is set in shoot in Queensland in April, with Travis Fimmel to star and Kriv Stenders to direct.
Provisionally titled Danger Close the feature written by Stuart Beattie (Pirates of Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Collateral, Australia) and to be produced by Martin Walsh will begin shooting around ANZAC Day.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who is currently in LA taking meetings with studio execs, announced the project today, along with the fact that the Queensland government has also put on a bid for Dora the Explorer to be shot in the state.
Danger Close is a collaborative project between Walsh’s production house Red Dune Productions and John and Michael Schwarz’s Deeper Water. Fimmel is the only cast member to be announced so far.
Walsh, a former Australian Special Forces commando, has been developing the project for over a decade, with Sam Worthington originally attached to star and Bruce Beresford once expected to direct.
Overall the film is predicted to employ 120 full-time crew members out of Queensland and offer 30 principal cast and bit-part roles.
“We are seeing a growing number of screen productions being filmed in Queensland, and our state is forging many exciting partnerships with leading studios.
“While in the United States on a trade and investment mission this week I will be meeting with studio heads at Twentieth Century Fox Film, Warner Brothers, Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney to discuss new projects and partnerships,” said Palaszczuk.
“Attracting major productions like Danger Close to Queensland supports local jobs and showcases Queensland to the world, and that is the impetus behind Screen Queensland’s initial $30 million four-year funding injection in our screen industry.”
The Premier echoed the recommendation from last year’s House of Reps inquiry that the Location Offset be permanently lifted to 30 per cent, arguing studios need certainty if they are to bring their films to Australia.
“I have written to the Prime Minister – now is the time to act or we will not get the films and the jobs that Queensland deserves.”