‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’ to be shot Down Under
SYDNEY: The remake of ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’ will be fi lmed in Australia after the government pledged a one- off grant worth more than US$ 22 million, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Tuesday.
In a joint statement with Arts Minister Tony Burke, Gillard said casting decisions were still to be made and locations yet to be fi nalised for the movie, which is set to be the biggest production ever fi lmed in Australia.
“The securing of this fi lm is a huge coup for the Australian fi lm industry and for the near 1,000 local businesses that will be providing goods and services for the fi lm,” Gillard and Burke said in the statement.
To secure the shooting of the fi lm in Australia, where it is expected to create up to 2,000 jobs, the government will grant the producers a one- off incentive payment of A$ 21.6 million ( RM70 million). In 2012, the government gave the makers of the Hugh Jackman movie ‘ The Wolverine’ a A$ 12.8 million incentive payment to ensure that it was made in Australia to boost the fi lm industry.
The local fi lm sector has struggled under the high Australian dollar which has made production of big-budget movies here more expensive than in other locations in recent years.
Reports in February suggested Brad Pitt was being sought for the lead role in the remake of the 1954 fi lm starring Kirk Douglas and based on the novel by Jules Verne, and would bring Angelina Jolie and family with him Down Under.
Pitt was reportedly offered the lead role by director David Fincher, who he worked with on ‘Fight Club’, but the Hollywood
Reporter has dismissed these reports as incorrect.