Acclaimed actor Liam Neeson is set to return to Victoria for The Mongoose – his third film shot in the state within four years.
The upcoming action-thriller will commence filming across Melbourne and regional Victoria in late January.
The Mongoose features Neeson as Ryan ‘Fang’ Flanagan, a war hero wrongfully accused of a crime, who leads authorities on a high-stakes, televised cross-country chase, aided by his former Special Forces comrades.
The production will be based at the Melbourne Screen Hub in Footscray, a facility that expanded this year to accommodate such visiting projects like The Mongoose.
This film reunites Neeson with Code Entertainment, the production house behind his previous Victorian projects, Ice Road and Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky. Directed by veteran stunt professional Mark Vanselow and scripted by Thompson Evans (TV mini series, Reckoning), The Mongoose‘s production team includes Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt and Eugene Musso as producers, with Jonathan Dana, Rich Freeman, Steven Shapiro and Liz and Ken Whitney serving as executive producers.
The shoot is supported by the Victorian Government through VicScreen’s Victorian Screen Incentive, which anticipates the creation of hundreds of jobs for local screen professionals and a significant financial injection into the state’s economy. The project will also engage approximately 150 local businesses, ranging from specialist screen industry services to accommodation providers, retailers and hospitality venues.
Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brooks said, ‘We’ve always known that Victoria is a sought after screen destination. To see major producers and stars returning time and time again is testament to our spectacular locations, exceptional crews and world-class facilities.’ He added that The Mongoose is part of a bigger line-up of productions set to energise the state’s screen industry in 2025.
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‘We are delighted to welcome Liam Neeson, Al Corley and Bart Rosenblatt back to Victoria to make yet another action-packed film,’ said VicScreen CEO Caroline Pitcher.
‘Once international producers experience how much Victoria has to offer, they want to come back again and again. This film is part of Victoria’s growing screen production pipeline, which reinforces our state’s reputation as a screen powerhouse, generating jobs for Victorian screen workers and businesses.’
‘We are so fortunate to be able to make another picture with the extraordinary Liam Neeson and the talented Mark Vanselow,’ said Producers Al Corley and Bart Rosenblatt. ‘Shooting in Victoria again is fantastic – Melbourne is a great city to shoot in – the local crews and the technical capabilities of the virtual stages are terrific.’
This announcement follows a year of diverse screen projects in Victoria, including local productions like the psychological horror Saccharine, sci-fi action thriller War Machine and the ABC series The Family Next Door, as well as international projects, such as the television series All Her Fault and the feature film Beneath the Storm. These endeavours have also been attracted to the state through the Labor Government’s VicScreen strategy.
The Mongoose will commence production in 2025.
