By Cara Nash
Queensland is set to double as the Amazon jungle in a new thriller that is bringing Daniel Radcliffe to our shores.
The former Harry Potter star (who has been admirably selective in his choices post that franchise) will share the screen with an impressive trio of Australian actors in Jason Clarke (Everest, Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Alex Russell (Unbroken) and Ryan Corr (Holding The Man, The Water Diviner).
Based on the bestselling memoir of the same name by Yossi Ghinsberg, Jungle tells the story of four travellers who set off into the heart of the Amazon rainforest on a dream adventure, which quickly turns into a nightmare.
It’s being directed by Greg McLean who delivered the classic Australian horror thrillers Wolf Creek and Wold Creek 2, and is being scripted by Justin Monjo behind the popular television mini-series Never Tear Us Apart: The Untold Story of INXS.
It’s another big coup for Queensland who has also secured production of Thor: Ragnarok, which is due to begin shooting in April with Chris Hemsworth. The Shallows, starring Blake Lively as a stranded young woman being circled by a great white shark, also recently shot there; while the fantasy thriller Kong: Skull Island starring Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L. Jackson is currently shooting in Queensland.
The state government, via Screen Queensland, has contributed an undisclosed amount into the production to lure it here, and accordingly at least 50 per cent of the film will be shot in South East Queensland, the Village Roadshow Studios and other locations still to be determined.
