Liam Neeson is back in Victoria as production starts on The Mongoose, his third film in the state in four years.
The Taken and Schindler’s List star and production team are currently working on set at the state’s Bacchus Marsh Aerodrome. The action-thriller will shoot over the coming months in Bacchus Marsh, Castlemaine and Bangholme as well as the Melbourne CBD, North Melbourne, Kensington and Moorabbin.
The Mongoose stars Neeson as Ryan ‘Fang’ Flanagan, a war hero accused of a crime he didn’t commit and with nothing to lose. He leads police on an epic televised cross-country car chase, helped by members of his former Special Forces Army battalion, as a fascinated public cheers him on.
Directed by veteran stunt professional Mark Vanselow, the film’s international cast includes Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei, Ving Rhames and Michael Chiklis.
The local cast, meanwhile, includes Ryan Morgan, Maurice Meredith, Toby Truslove, Aisha Aidara, Zac Taylor, Yesse Spence, Mario Sayana, Geoff Paine, Elias Anton, Brett Tucker, Hamish Michael, Geoff Morell and Louisa Mignone.
From its production base at the Melbourne Screen Hub in Footscray and across its on-location shoots, the production is expected to create more than 450 jobs for Victorian screen workers and engage 150 local businesses – including aerial cinematography by Melbourne drone specialists XM2.
The production will inject more than $19 million into the Victorian economy, with an estimated $2 million being spent in regional Victorian communities. The project reunites Neeson with Code Entertainment, producers of both Ice Road and Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky and was written by Thompson Evans (Reckoning).
Code Entertainment’s Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt, and Eugene Musso will produce. Jonathan Dana will executive produce with Code’s Rich Freeman along with Steven Shapiro and Liz and Ken Whitney of Jupiter Peak Productions. Lisa Wilson and Craig Chapman of The Solution Entertainment Group will also executive produce.
Liam Neeson’s previous Victorian-based productions – Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky (2023) and Blacklight (2022) created more than 1,300 jobs and generated more than $55 million in economic value for the state.
The Mongoose was attracted to Victoria by the Allan Labor Government through VicScreen’s Victorian Screen Rebate. The film also received support from the Federal Government’s Location Offset.
Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brooks MP said: ‘We’re thrilled to welcome Liam Neeson and the team back to Victoria to make yet another action-packed movie that will create hundreds of local jobs, engage local businesses and generate millions for our economy.’
Neeson said: ‘I’m honoured to be back in Victoria working on my latest film “The Mongoose” with one of the best crews, again, that I have ever worked with in over 100 movies.’
In his ScreenHub review of Neeson’s 2022 film shot in and round Melbourne, Blacklight, Anthony Morris wrote:
‘Anyone familiar with the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (colloquially known as Jeff’s Shed, after former premier Jeff Kennett) on the banks of the Yarra will recognise the views outside the windows of both Mira’s website office and the headquarters of Block’s boss and friend, FBI chief Gabriel Robinson (Aidan Quinn).
‘As part of the shoot, the Centre was turned into a huge sound stage, with massive LED screens providing the backdrops. Another big action sequence that takes place mid-film is partly set in a museum that’s the re-dressed lobby of one of the Exhibition Centre’s buildings; the stairs and gates outside also come in handy when it’s time to run and gun.
‘Less instantly recognisable are the leafy suburban scenes (shot in inner suburban Melbourne) where Block is either slightly creeping out his somewhat estranged daughter Amanda (Claire van der Boom). He’s trying to be part of her life after decades of being devoted to his job, but his operational OCD makes her wary and him something of a bad influence on her pre-schooler daughter.’ Read more …
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