KEITH T. DENNETT | New South | CONTACT
In exciting news for the Australian film industry, Baz Luhrmann has reportedly just finished the screenplay of his next Australiana epic, “From The Area”.
Inspired by the Penrith Panther’s incredible four-peat of premiership wins, it’s understood the Academy Award nominated director has been working on the script all season, and was last night able to give the final scenes a happy ending.
Featuring an all-star cast including Eric Bana as Ivan Cleary, and Gus Gould as Gus Gould, the film will cover the Panther’s decade of dominance, as they rose from the sewers of the NRL ladder, to becoming one of the greatest teams in living memory.
With plans to exclusively film the three-hour epic around Penrith’s surrounding suburbs, the news is particularly great for the local film industry, which needs a proper injection of cash now that Sydney Sweeny and Glen Powell have left town.
Speaking to the Tony Award winning director from a café in Kings Cross, Baz has told The Advocate he plans to finally give the western suburbs the Hollywood treatment it deserves.
“Gatsby, Moulin Rouge, Elvis, I’m always inspired to make the biggest stories even bigger. When you’ve got a brotherhood like Cleary, Luai, To’o at the centre of your story, it can’t get any bigger than this!”.
“I’ve even been in talks to get Gus Gould to play himself. I thought about giving Russel Crowe a call, but after rewatching a few Origin rev ups I was reminded that no one can deliver a monologue better than Gus!”
More to come.
