Cara Nash
While Stuart Beattie’s feature film adaptation of Tomorrow, When the War Began, the first novel in John Marsden’s bestselling teen series, proved a huge hit at home in 2010, the subsequent sequels stalled – and the actors of the original became too old to play eens, and Beattie moved on to other projects.
“That was crushing,” Beattie told us in 2014 of the sequels never eventuating. “I loved that series, and where it went after the first film. I had written very detailed outlines for a second and third film. I was pushing the producers to commission a screenplay for a year, and they kept saying they would. I think they had every intention of doing it, but six months after the film came out, they still hadn’t made a deal. It came down to the fact that I had to keep working.”
While Marsden’s novels may have done their dash on the big screen, Ambience Entertainment has teamed up with ABC to produce a 6 x 1 hour television series of the books, and the young cast has just been announced.
Comprising fresh, promising new talent, the cast will be led by Molly Daniels (You’re Skitting Me, The Librarians) who will tackle the central role of Ellie (previously played by Caitlin Stasey). Jon Prasida (Hiding) has been cast as Lee, Narek Arman (Packed to the Rafters, Dance Academy) as Homer, Madeleine Madden (The Code, Redfern Now) as Corrie, Fantine Banulski (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, You’re Skitting Me) as Robyn, Keith Purcell (Neighbours) as Chris and newcomers Madeleine Clunies-Ross as Fi and WAPPA graduate Andrew Creer as Kevin.
This young talent will be joined by acclaimed Australian actors including Deborah Mailman (Redfern Now, Black Comedy, Offspring), Sibylla Budd (Winners and Losers, The Secret Life of Us), James Stewart (Hiding, Packed to the Rafters) and Alison Bell (Offspring, Laid).
For anyone not familiar with the premise of Marsden’s beloved series, it follows a group of teenagers who return from a camping trip to learn that their country has been invaded by a foreign enemy, and they’ve been separated from their families.
The series will be directed by Brendan Maher, who has an extensive resume of television credits and also helmed the kids feature film Return To Nim’s Island. Of his source material, Maher said: “Given the right circumstances everyone can be a hero. Our characters are faced with heart thumping jeopardy and spirit breaking dilemmas. How will they react? John Marsden has given us a truthful, enriching template on how to be the best we can.”
Tomorrow, When the War Began will commence shooting on location in and around Melbourne from September 14. The series will air on ABC3 in 2016.
Related Stories: Tomorrow, When The War Began lands a trailer and screening date.
It is truely sad they never followed thru with a sequel to “Tomorrow When the War Began” with the original actors and actresses. I would have loved to have seen it. I’m not interested in the series.
There are alot of good movies that should have had a sequel, Tomorrow When the War Began was one of them.
More interesting if the photo had been captioned with the names