Bazmark Press Release
Bazmark have issued a press release giving details of the progress of filming of Australia, excerpts of which read as follows:
Baz Luhrmann’s epic movie ‘Australia’ will arrive in the Top End after filming is completed in Bowen in Northern Queensland this week. Production commences on Stokes Hill wharf in Darwin on Monday 2nd July. After filming wraps in Darwin, the company’s planned move to Kununurra will be postponed due to the record-breaking unseasonably wet season. Instead, the production will return to Sydney where filming will resume on the sound stages at Fox Studios.
… In Darwin, the filming on Stokes Hill wharf will feature scenes with stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. The filming will include the arrival to Darwin of Kidman’s character, Lady Sarah Ashley, on a Qantas flying boat at the bustling wharf. Jackman will be featured in a scene that takes place in the aftermath of an attack by Japanese forces on the city as Australia enters the Second World War. These scenes will be edited together with footage already shot in Bowen and Darwin will come to life as the exotic port it was then and remains today.
… Once filming wraps in Darwin, the company will return to Sydney where filming will continue on the sound stages at Fox Studios. The production made the decision to postpone shooting originally scheduled for Kununurra and the surrounding area due to unseasonably bad weather in the region over the past weeks. The torrential rains slowed down the construction of sets and the waters blocked access to many crucial locations. Luhrmann insists that “the color palette and drama of the East Kimberley landscape during the dry is worth waiting for. Once the waters have subsided and our team can recommence work there, we look forward to returning to Kununurra to complete filming.”
Displaying visual confirmation (see left, click for larger image), The Sydney Morning Herald has shown readers an image of the Faraway Downs homestead set showing it to be completely flooded. It solidly confirms that filming in Western Australia has been delayed and will now take place from early August onwards to let the area ‘dry out’ after unseasonably heavy rains.
sources: Bazmark Film II, Sydney Morning Herald
Add comment June 29th, 2007