$140m ScoMo backflip
Teenage star selected for lead role in blockbuster
THE Federal Treasurer has listened to the Gold Coast by promising $140 million for Australian film in the next financial year.
Scott Morrison will announce the new Location Incentive in the Federal Budget on Tuesday.
It is a big change of heart by Mr Morrison who only weeks ago was criticised by the Bulletin for refusing to tip federal funds into luring the Dora the Explorer franchise to the Gold Coast. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk ended up finding money to save the deal.
Gold Coast MP and Federal Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steven Ciobo, who has spent the past 12 months in talks with executives from major US studios, is believed to have played a key role in securing the deal.
“This new funding means more international films will be made here in Australia, and particularly in Queensland, which means more local jobs,” he said yesterday.
THE teenage star of Transformers: The Last Knight is heading to the Gold Coast to play the lead role in a live-action film version of Dora The Explorer.
US actress Isabela Moner, best known for her role alongside Mark Wahlberg and Anthony Hopkins in last year’s Transformers movie, will play a teenage version of the beloved children’s character Dora in the Dora the Explorer movie.
A voice actress, singer, songwriter, dancer, pianist and ukulele player born in Cleveland, Ohio, Moner turns 17 in July and has been pegged as one to watch since she was named Rising Star of the Year at the 2017 CinemaCon Awards.
Moner said yesterday she was “honoured and excited” to bring Dora to life.
“I grew up watching the show and for me, especially as a Latina, Dora was an amazing role model – she is a strong, adventurous and fun-loving girl,’’ she said.
“I can’t wait to put on the backpack and begin her next adventure.”
Paramount Players president Brian Robbins said the film company and partner Nickelodeon looked forward to “continuing Dora’s story for generations to come”.
“We are thrilled to have found our Dora in Isabela,” he said.
“Dora has long been a celebrated, strong heroine in animated television and like Dora, Isabela has an incredible spirit and is an advocate for positive values.”
Pre-production on the film began in February, with cameras set to roll on set on the Gold Coast on August 6.
The Coast shoot isn’t the first Dora project Moner has worked on – she voiced the character Kate in an animated Dora spin-off called Dora and Friends: Into the City! in 2014.
Based on the animated series of the same name, the
Paramount film is being directed by James Bobin (Muppets Most Wanted) and produced in association with Nickelodeon.
The original Dora series premiered in 2000, with Dora as a 7-year-old Latina who travels the world.
The new live-action film will follow Dora as she heads off on an adventure with her cousin Diego and best friend Boots the monkey.
Dora The Explorer is slated for release in the US in August 2019.