EPIC SHARK THRILLER BEAST OF WAR STARTS SHOOTING

Screen NSW, Screen Queensland, Bronte Pictures and Pictures in Paradise have announced that principal photography has officially commenced in Australia on Beast Of War, the eagerly awaited shark thriller helmed by acclaimed genre director Kiah Roache-Turner (Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead, Nekoronic, Wyrmwood: Apocalypse, Sting).

Pictured, above: On the set of Beast of War at Screen Queensland Studios, Brisbane.

Filming takes place between the lush sub-tropical region of New South Wales’ Northern Rivers and Screen Queensland Studios, Brisbane. The film is a collaboration between Bronte Pictures (known for The Fabulous Four, Streamline, Wyrmwood: Apocalypse, Take My Hand) and Chris Brown of Pictures in Paradise (Sting, Daybreakers, The Railway Man).

An ensemble of award-winning and emerging Australian actors make up the cast, including Mark Coles Smith (Last Cab To Darwin, Mystery Road: Origin); newcomer Joel Nankervis; Sam Delich (Last Days Of The Space Age, Spiderhead); Lee Tiger Halley (Boy Swallows Universe, Crazy Fun Park); Tristan McKinnon (Wyrmwood: Apocalypse, Moon Rock For Monday); and, Steve Le Marquand (Population: 11, Christmess). The cast will endure a brutal physical shoot portraying a band of soldiers stranded in the open ocean, hunted by the ultimate apex predator.

Penned by Roache-Turner, the screenplay is set in 1942 during World War II. A warship carrying hundreds of Australian soldiers across the Timor Sea is suddenly targeted by Japanese bombers, transforming the ocean into a hellscape of steel, fire, oil, and blood. With their vessel destroyed, a handful of soldiers construct a makeshift raft from floating debris, clinging to their lives amidst rising tensions. However, their greatest battle is yet to come as a great white shark, drawn to the scent of blood, hunts them in the wreckage below.

Beast of War is building Australia’s largest indoor water tank at the Screen Queensland Studios, Brisbane, while also working with Brisbane based Model Farm whose team will use volume screens to bring open ocean to life.

Pictured, above: On location in northern New South Wales - L to R: 1st AD, Jamie Crooks; gaffer, Storm Ashwood; Director of Photography, Mark Wareham (centre); B-camera/underwater camera Mark Broadbent, director, Kiah Roache-Turner; buyer/dresser, Michael O'Connor.

 The creature effects are being crafted by multi-award winning studio Formation Effect's director Steven Boyle, whose credits include The Matrix Trilogy and The Hobbit Trilogy. Director of Photography for the project is Mark Wareham ACS (Boy Swallows Universe, The Legend of Molly Johnson, La Brea), with production designer Esther Rosenberg (Wyrmwood: Apocalypse, Fear Below, Take My Hand) and AFI-nominated costume designer Tracey Rose Sparke (Beneath Hill 60; The 25th Reich) also on board.

Roache-Turner is celebrated as one of Australia’s premier genre directors. His debut film Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead premiered at Fantastic Fest in Austin, while his follow-up feature Nekrotonic, starring Monica Bellucci, premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. His subsequent film, Wyrmwood: Apocalypse, won the Audience Award at the 2021 Sydney Film Festival. His current feature, the arachnophobia horror Sting, is rolling out across international territories under the guidance of Studiocanal.

Beast Of War has generated significant international buzz, with sales and distribution company Cornerstone securing distribution deals in key markets, including Signature Entertainment in the UK and Well Go in North America. Other territories include Dea Planeta (Spain), Just Entertainment (Benelux), NOS (Portugal), Galaxy Pictures (Australia & New Zealand), GPI (Baltics), Capella (CIS), TVN (Poland), Karpat Media (Romania & Hungary), Italia Film (Middle East), Tanweer (Turkey), and Filmfinity (South Africa).

CAMERAS ROLL ON JUDY AND PUNCH SHOOT

Mirrah Foulkes has commenced production of her feature directorial debut, Judy and Punch. Working from her own script and with the backing of VICE Studios and Seaside Productions, Foulkes will guide her leads Mia Wasikowska and Damon Herriman through a contemporary, often violent reinterpretation of the 16th century marionette play, ‘ Punch and Judy’.

In Foulkes’ very adult reworking of the evergreen children’s story, puppeteers Judy and husband Punch live in the peculiar, unforgiving town of Seaside, where they stage their shows as a means to ultimately escape their small town life. The charismatic Punch reveals an increasingly violent personality, his actions propelling the narrative into dark thematic territory. In a denouement that speaks directly to the current #MeToo movement and climate for gender equality, Judy teams up with a band of outcast heretics to enact revenge on him and the entire town of Seaside.

A string of well-received short films earned Foulkes (pictured, right) the opportunity to helm her first feature. Her 2012 short, ‘Dumpy Goes to The Big Smoke’ earned the prized Rouben Mamoulian Award at the 2012 Sydney Film Festival and won her Best Director honours at the internationally recognized Flickerfest Film Festival. Her 2015 film ‘Florence Has Left The Building’ won Best Short Fiction honours at the AACTA Awards; in 2016, her third short ‘Trespass’ took out the Best Australian Short Film trophy at the Melbourne International Film Festival. Prior to life behind the camera, Foulkes amassed a stellar list of acting credits in both film and television, including Jody Dwyer’s Dying Breed (2008), David Michod’s Animal Kingdom (2010) and Julia Leigh’s Sleeping Beauty (2011).

Having made her feature film debut in 2006 in Paul Goldman’s Suburban Mayhem, Mia Wasikowska has established her A-list credentials in blockbusters such as Alice in Wonderland (2010), its sequel Alice Through The Looking Glass (2016), and Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak (2015). The in-demand actress has worked alongside such filmmakers as Edward Zwick (Defiance, 2008), Mira Nair (Amelia, 2009), Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right, 2010), John Hillcoat (Lawless, 2012), Chan-wook Park (Stoker, 2013), Jim Jarmusch (Only Lovers Left Alive, 2013), John Curran (Tracks, 2013) and David Cronenberg (Maps to The Stars, 2014). Her latest film, Nicolas Pesce’s Piercing, will have its Australian premiere at the 2018 Sydney Film Festival in June.

Damon Herriman arrives in Victoria on the wave of career momentum, with projects in various stages of production both at home and in the U.S. An acting veteran whose first credit was at age 6 in the iconic TV series The Sullivans, Herriman is currently one of Hollywood’s most sought-after character players, with roles in several TV series, including the highly-touted FX project Mr Inbetween (with Edgerton, pictured left, at the helm). His last Australian feature was Abe Forsyth’s racially-charged black comedy, Down Under (2016); he recently wrapped on The Nightingale, director Jennifer Kent’s follow-up to her cult hit, The Babadook.

Judy and Punch will shoot in various locations around Melbourne, Victoria, overseen by producers Michelle Bennett (Chopper, 2000; The Magician, 2005; Drift, 2013), Nash Edgerton (director of The Square, 2008, and Gringo, 2018) and VICE Studios Danny Gabai (The Bad Batch, 2016; The Beach Bum, 2018). In addition to VICE and Seaside, backing was sourced via Screen Australia in conjunction with Screen Victoria and Create NSW. Madman Entertainment are distributing in Australia and New Zealand, with Cornerstone Films spruiking international.