Locals in the picture for sci-fi film debut
THE director of Gold Coast filmed sci-fi thriller Occupation has dropped the first trailer for the star-studded independent feature film.
Shot on the Gold Coast and Tweed last year with an ensemble cast lead by Dan Ewing (Home and Away), Temuera Morrison (Aquaman, Star Wars, Once Were Warriors) and Stephany Jacobsen (Revenge, Battlestar Galactica), Occupation opens in cinemas on July 12.
Event Cinemas Pacific Fair will host a special advance Vmax screening and Q+A with the film’s writer and director Luke Sparke, cast and crew on May 31 as part of Monster Fest.
More than 300 locals worked on the $3 million scifi action thriller about a group of civilians on the frontline of a battle to save the Earth from occupation by an extraterrestrial enemy.
“We had hundreds of extras, big-set pieces, explosions at least once a week ... so we had to work smart and hard to bring it all together on time and budget,” Sparke said.
Occupation’s ensemble cast also includes Rhiannon Fish (Home and Away), Jacqueline McKenzie (The Water Diviner, Romper Stomper), Roy Billing (Jack Irish) and Bruce Spence (Star Wars, Mad Max 2).
Sparke drafted more than 200 locals to appear as Aussie rules fan extras for pyrotechnic-loaded scenes filmed after dark at Murwillumbah Showgrounds. “Everyone likes the idea of doing an action film because we don’t do many in Australia,” he said.
The film’s official trailer is set to Storms, a track written by Powderfinger guitarist and songwriter Darren Middleton, and loaded with action sequences and explosions.
Sparke, who directed 2016 monster romp Red Billabong, which also starred Ewing, enlisted a highly experienced screen team for Occupation, many of who worked on locally filmed epics Aquaman, Thor: Ragnarok, The Railway Man and Daybreakers.
“It has been put together by passionate individuals and companies from Australia and around the world,” Sparke said.
Sculptor and prop maker Steven Brown worked on Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War while the film’s stunties have worked on box-office hits such as Thor: Ragnarok, Alien: Covenant, Hacksaw Ridge, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Suicide Squad.