
MOVIE DEVELOPMENT:
April 2007 - June 2007
The following is a
detailed summary of movie news and speculation that was reported from late April
2007
(when Australia started production) until the end of June 2007 (when
filmed ended in Bowen).
All news is accompanied
by the name of the media source, and links to original articles.
Click here to return to my main
Australia page.
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Post-movie tension
Townsville Bulletin, 28 June 2007
If people in Bowen today are bleak, unreasonable and accuse you of not
understanding them, blame it on PMT – Post Movie Tension. Baz Luhrmann, Nicole
Kidman and Hugh Jackman and Co have been in Queensland's tomato capital for the
past six weeks filming the movie Australia. They shot their last scenes in the
town last night. The word on the street yesterday was that star Nicole Kidman
had already abandoned the town. If she had, she didn't stop to say goodbye. It
has been an emotional roller-coaster, and it has even been said the town's
ebullient mayor Cr Mike Brunker could suffer a form of post-natal depression
when the movie crew pack up and leave town. It was Cr Brunker, whispering sweet
nothings about a wooden jetty and open foreshore land into Baz Luhrmann's ear
that convinced the famous Aussie movie producer to shoot the 1922 and 1942
scenes – to be depicted in the movie as Darwin – in the town that was once
considered the `ugly step sister' by the likes of Townsville, Mackay and Airlie
Beach. Cinderella Bowen is sky walking and it was Prince Baz who helped the
ostracized sister, bullied and ridiculed by evil step-mum Townsville, and
jealous step-sisters, Airlie and Mackay, to meet her prince and to live happily
ever after. Cr Brunker said there was no stopping Bowen now that she had been to
the ball and had won the hand of the handsome prince. "The movie has been
monstrous for the town. The number of people who have come in to see the sets
and then discovered the beaches. It's just been great," he said. Cr Brunker said
the town would get to keep movie memorabilia such as the WWI cenotaph, all
signage, and a police cell and prison. He said this would all be collected in a
permanent display to remind the locals and visitors the time Bowen became
Bowenwood.
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Filming to wrap
The Townsville Bulletin, 23 June 2007
The buzz won't go out of Bowenwood the minute the stars leave town next week.
Bowen Mayor Mike Brunker said once the cast and crew had left the town by
Friday, film buzz would continue. "We're working on ideas to keep the momentum
going and we're planning to redevelop the foreshore and when that's done we will
have an interpretive centre with a board walk of the stars that featured in the
film on the footpath," Cr Brunker said. "The foreshore will be totally dedicated
to the film." Cr Brunker said most of the set would be removed and taken back to
Sydney. "Some private businesses will keep parts of the set but we will focus on
the interpretative centre which will have everything about the film in it," he
said. "It's probably better than having the iron buildings anyway because then
we don't have to worry about it being broken into, burning down or blowing away.
Fox Studios have also been filming a documentary on the making of the film so we
hope to get a copy of it to be able to show in the centre." Bowen Collinsville
Enterprise economic development manager Martin Homisan said not only Bowen but
the entire region had benefited from the film. Only four days of filming,
including today, remains in Bowen before Australia's cast and crew heads to
Darwin and Kununurra.
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Dousing Darwin
The Townsville Bulletin, 22 June 2007
The flames that blazed on the set of Australia on Wednesday were doused
yesterday by wet weather. All the soldiers carrying heavy machinery were nowhere
to be seen as the war-torn Darwin set looked completely deserted. With only days
left to catch a glimpse of the filming in action, the sudden rain kept onlookers
disappointed as cast and crew re-located to an indoor studio. Despite the rain,
a spokeswoman for Australia said filming was still on track. "We've reverted to
our weather plan and the cameras are still rolling," she said. If weather
permits, more wharf scenes are expected to be shot today with both Hugh Jackman
and Nicole Kidman scheduled to be back on the job. Then on Saturday, shooting of
the bombed stockyards, gun emplacement and beacon will run from noon to midnight
across several on-set locations. All actors will be given a well-deserved rest
on Sunday before cameras resume rolling at the wharf, stockyards, gun
emplacement and beacon from 6am on Monday.
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Bowen gold rush
Gold Coast Weekend Bulletin, 22 June 2007
When Bowen was founded in the 1800s, there was a strong push for it to become
the capital of north Queensland, the political and administrative headquarters
of a tropical paradise. History shows Townsville assumed that mantle -- thanks
to the Charters Towers gold rush -- and Bowen has become more famous today for
its mangoes than its MPs. Drive through Bowen today and it's easy to see time
has stood still since those gold rush days and you get the impression the locals
like it that way. So when noted Aussie film-maker Baz Luhrmann started scouting
for locations for his Hollywood blockbuster, Australia, starring Nicole Kidman
and Hugh Jackman, some locals were a little sceptical that he would take such an
interest in little old Bowen, population 9000. But the filming of the Twentieth
Century Fox epic has put the sleepy little place back on the map and, since the
shoot began a few months ago, 10,000 tourists have visited Bowen. The local
bakery has sold more pies in the past three months than it did in the previous
three years as hundreds of cast and crew make it their second home. In the first
three weeks, the production team spent more than $2 million on accommodation
alone and 98 locals are working as volunteers and 600 have become extras,
including Joy Jocheim, whose family own the local bakery. Luhrmann has taken a
shine to Joy, who he says now has a speaking role in the film. Jackman has
jokingly told her she needs an agent. Such is the community spirit within Bowen
right now that Jackman's seven-year-old son Oscar has been baking cakes at the
Jocheim family pie shop and he's already told his dad he wants to live there.
There's now a massive sign titled 'Bowenwood' which greets motorists as they
drive into the town. Movies, as the people of Bowen can attest, are big
business.
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Fire scene razes church
The Townsville Bulletin, 21 June 2007
As quickly as it went up, it came back down. All that remains of the church and schoolyard that doubled as Mission Island on the set of Baz Luhrmann's Australia is a burnt down pile of rubbish. Hugh Jackman's character Noah played a crucial role in the church where school children were dashed to safety when the Japanese invaded and a fire broke out. On day 31 of shooting yesterday, a scene that saw kids fleeing from that church to the wharf was shot. A simulated fire was ablaze – the result of a possible bomb raid. Soldiers in uniform carrying backpacks and rifles were also seen parading up and down the set, reminiscent of a true war zone. Debris now lies over the once pre-war red Darwin dirt and black soot now covers all the buildings on set. Tomorrow more wharf scenes are expected to be shot with both Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman set to be back on the job. A movie spokesperson said despite unexpected rainfall, filming was still on schedule. "The weather hasn't been great so we've been shooting things that we can do in wet weather," she said. "Everything is going really well and the shots we have got look amazing."
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Nic lavished with gifts
The Townsville Bulletin, 21 June 2007
Birthday
wishes from celebrity superstars arrived in Bowen yesterday for Nicole Kidman's
40th birthday. Local florist Frangipani Florists were inundated with orders from
around the world, including from ex-husband actor Tom Cruise and wife Katie
Holmes for the big day. And Bowen locals got into the spirit too, with a local
bakery making a cake. Even Bowen Mayor Mike Brunker baked a celebratory roast.
"My wife spent all day baking, now we're just waiting for Nicole to arrive," he
said. But the birthday girl was nowhere to be seen. It is believed the
Oscar-winner spent most of the day high atop the hills of her Bowen residence
with Keith as she was not scheduled to be on set shooting the epic Australia.
Urban made a surprise dash to Bowen to celebrate the milestone by his wife's
side after spending the last fortnight touring the US. They were gathered with
close friends at the top of Flagstaff Hill last night for a party bash, which
included a spectacular fireworks display. There was also a small party on the
set. Baz Luhrmann organised the main party, with food caterers from the US
making the trip for the prestigious party and fireworks set to light up the
night sky for all to see at about 7.30pm. Kidman hasn't been spotted around
Bowen this week and was last seen in Bondi Beach at the weekend where she
kicked-off an early birthday celebration with her sister Antonia, mum Janelle
and a group of close girlfriends who gathered to raise their glasses in
celebration of the leading lady's milestone. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii to
Australian parents, Kidman has won critical acclaim for her varied roles as an
actress over the years.
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Sounds of an epic
The Townsville Bulletin, 20 June 2007
Baz Luhrmann has been busy capturing all of the sights of Bowen – and now he has
the sounds, too... Bowen Fire Station's siren, an authentic World War II relic
which is still used to summon firefighters to emergencies. The sound of the
siren has now been immortalised in film, recorded during the scene in Luhrmann's
Australia where Darwin is bombarded by Japanese airplanes. Ironically, the
siren was previously used in Bowen to warn residents of an impending air raid
during the real World War II. Retired firefighter Glen Skinner said the antique
siren was a surprise find for Luhrmann. "When the firies told them they had an
old air raid siren from the war years, the film crew couldn't believe it," Mr
Skinner said. While Bowen was not on the target list during WWII, the siren
drove residents into shelters when enemy planes neared Townsville.
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Hugh Jackman falls in love with Bowen
Sunday Telegraph, 17 June 2007
Forget
the Bowen mango - the north Queensland country town will be known for something
much more famous if actor Hugh Jackman's son gets his way. The Hollywood and
Broadway star today told Queensland Premier Peter Beattie on the Bowen set of
Baz Luhrmann's outback epic Australia that his son Oscar wanted the family to
relocate to the country town. "When you are travelling around a bit like a
circus it is not always easy to assimilate into the community, that's why I love
being here in Bowen,'' Jackman told reporters today. "I will never forget it, my
son wants us to live here full time. I will have to have a serious chat with his
mum about that.'' He said Oscar had taken a shine to Bowen after starting to
help out at the local pie shop and offering to sell his own pastry creations to
the public, for a reasonable profit of course. ''(The shop owner asked) how much
for? And he (Oscar) goes $7. He (owner) said 'you're hired','' Jackman laughed.
Bowen's charm has also seduced Jackman's co-star, none other than Oscar winner
Nicole Kidman. "Nicole (Kidman) and I were sitting here and just went 'how lucky
are we?','' Jackman said. About a third of the film is being shot in Bowen and
shooting is expected to wrap up in a fortnight before heading to Darwin. But Mr
Beattie believed the movie would remain synonymous with Bowen. "Bowen could be
known for mangoes as well as the Jackman family and movies - it could be
Bowenwood,'' he said.
Luhrmann hoped to reward the country town by holding a premiere at Bowen. "We hope to hold premieres all over the world but I hope we do a very special one here,'' he said. Mr Beattie was amazed at the difference the movie had made since it began filming at the 9,500-strong town last month. The state government gave the filmmakers a $500,000 sweetener for choosing the Queensland location. "They've had more than 10,000 tourists who have come as a result of the movie set, which I think justifies the $500,000 that the state government has invested into this project,'' Mr Beattie said. "Bowen's got not just those 10,000 tourists but they will be able to promote this well after this movie has hit the silver screen. It's reshaped the town.'' Mr Beattie also met Luhrmann and local volunteers on set today. The film centres on an English aristocrat, played by Kidman, who becomes the proprietor of a cattle station before World War II. When cattle barons try to take over her land, she enlists the help of a "rough-hewn'' drover, played by Jackman.
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Baz's love shack buzz
The Townsville Bulletin, 16 June 2007
It's definitely not the most romantic looking building – but Baz has created a
love shack. A secret three-day film shoot session at an industrial shed in
central Bowen took place earlier this month, and word was Hugh and Nic were
getting down and dirty. Raunchy love scenes are said to feature heavily in the
movie and Nic even slyly mentioned to reporters that she was looking forward to
the filming. For three days earlier this month, security, make-up and crew vans
surrounded the corrugated iron shed in Bowen's Richmond Rd. Magazine reports
claim the sex scenes have been filmed – with Nic's husband Keith Urban watching
on jealously. While an Australia spokeswoman would not shed much light on the
filming schedule, blaming paparazzi for her secrecy, scenes have definitely been
shot in the shed. The adjoining car wash was closed for the three days. But with
no windows to steam up and heavy security, there was no chance of peeping toms.
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Plucking heartstrings
The Townsville Bulletin, 16 June 2007
The team at Bowen Retravision aren't really in the business of making dreams
come true, but they have helped put an enormous smile on the face of one of
Australia's youngest movie stars, completely by accident. For two weeks, a small
Aboriginal boy kept visiting the store, admiring a green classical guitar.
Occasionally he would ask staff members whether it was okay to try and play it.
His father accompanied his son into the store and when shown the guitar, was
overheard telling his son they did not have enough money for it. Not knowing who
the 11-year-old was, store owner Georgina Pio decided to give the $69 guitar to
the boy as a present. Later they found out the would-be classical guitarist
played one of the main characters in Baz Luhrmann's Australia – Brandon Walters,
who plays the part of Nullah. Nullah lives on Lady Ashley's (Nicole Kidman)
cattle station and becomes a central figure in the relationship between Lady
Ashley and the cattle drover (Hugh Jackman). "We just thought he was a little
Aboriginal boy from town who couldn't afford the guitar," Mrs Pio said.
"Apparently he plays it now every day." Other major cast members have also
visited the shop, popping in to buy digital cameras to capture their Bowen
adventures, or perusing the CDs. "Hugh Jackman is the most loveliest person you
could ever meet," Mrs Pio said. "He comes into town all the time and has a
coffee and works out at the gym. His parents have been here, his in-laws have
been here, he's really adopted the town as a home and I guess we've adopted
him."
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Town still buzzing with movie fever
The Townsville Bulletin, 16
June 2007
Enthusiasm certainly hasn't abated as filming continues in Bowen, with a stroll
down the main street almost more entertaining than trying to peer past security
guards for a glimpse of the stars. Herbert St businesses are still dressing up
shop windows with movie paraphernalia and restaurants have created dishes in an
attempt to lure cast and crew. Witty staff at the Central Hotel have created a
menu fit for the A-list stars. A 400g steak called `the Baz Lurhmann's Directors
Cut' is drawing hungry herds and a special treat has been created for the
leading lady herself. Central Hotel's Pam Graham said her head chef Kade Spencer
had created three special dishes to honour Baz, Nic and Hugh. Acting on a tip
from local chef Michel Bonnet found in the Collinsville State School Recipe Book
2002, Mr Spencer recreated a dish using what was believed to be some of Nic's
favourite foods. Atlantic salmon with asparagus and a mango chutney, or the
Nicole Special, was `made up with Nic's favourite ingredients, she said.
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Transported back in time
The Townsville Bulletin, 15 June 2007
Bowen's first ever fire engine has been doing some trippy time travelling. The
1924 Model T Ford has been used as an `extra' in Baz Luhrmann's Australia. After
80 years of trundling around Bowen's streets, from fire to fire, the Ford has
been transported back to the 1940s to appear on screen as part of the local
scenery. It is unknown whether the little scarlet car, which could carry several
firefighters and equipment, has a starring role in the movie, during the scene
where Darwin is attacked in World War II. The vintage vehicle, which was
lovingly restored by a committee of locals four years ago, has had quite the
journey back into the past. The near derelict fire engine had been kept in a
garage in Townsville for close to 30 years before its owner kindly gifted it
back to Bowen in 2003. The owner gave the Bowen Queensland Fire and Rescue
Service the first option of having it back before selling it to anyone else. It
was purchased by North Queensland Newspapers to mark the 100th anniversary of
the Bowen Independent. "The amazing thing was, after sitting in that garage for
all those years, they cranked it once and the engine kicked over immediately,"
said station officer Rob Luscott. The fire engine was brought into service in
Bowen in 1925. It has a top speed of 45km/hr, just enough power to get
firefighters to the scene of a fire in time. Nowadays the Model T Ford is only
brought out for special events, including shows, festivals and displays.
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Baz's billets
The Australian, 15 June 2007
The housing crisis in the northwest of Western Australia is not news - converted shipping containers are considered five-star accommodation in most mining towns - but things are getting out of control in Kununurra as the cast and crew from Baz Luhrmann's epic film Australia move in. If, like Nicole Kidman, you earn $25million for a movie, a shipping container - no matter how chic - probably doesn't appeal. So Luhrmann's minions are scouring the surrounding rural properties offering big bikkies to anyone prepared to vacate their station homestead and give Nic or her co-star Hugh Jackman a bed for the duration of the film shoot. Owners of lesser houses, for lesser stars, are being offered $300 to $400 a bedroom a week and the film company is negotiating with the race club to bring 80 campervans on to its racecourse. Luhrmann has even agreed to build an ablutions block for the crew's six-week stay.
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Northern Territory Government Media Release
Clare Martin, Chief Minister, 14 June 2007
WHARF GETS MAKEOVER TO BECOME MOVIE STAR
Stokes Hill Wharf is undergoing a makeover in preparation for its starring role
in the Baz Luhrmann film Australia. Chief Minister Clare Martin was given a tour
of the movie set by the production company's location manager, Carl Wood. "This
big budget film will bring a touch of Hollywood to Darwin – we expect it to
provide a big boost to tourism," Ms Martin said. "Millions of people around the
world will see this film which is set in Darwin – it's a real coup for the
Territory. Work has started on turning the wharf into a film set before filming
begins on July 3 – they will turn back time to recreate what the wharf looked
like in the 1930's and 40's. If you think of a house renovation – times it by
ten – everything is on a massive scale, just like the movie itself."
The work includes:
• 100 metres of handrail
• 90 square metres of timber deck
• 15 metres of fake railway track
• 11 metre long staircase down to the water
• 37 square metre floating pontoon
• working crane to lift luggage from pontoon onto the Wharf
• cladding existing concrete and steel to look like timber
Products and services for the filming are being sourced from locals where
possible with the production company, Bazmark, expected to spend around $4
million locally in total. Bazmark has been overwhelmed by interest from locals
to be extras in the movie – with 1200 people attending casting sessions hoping
for one of the 300 extra roles available.
Media Contact: Richard O'Leary
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Australia's housing crisis
Perth Now, 14 June 2007
Hundreds of Kununurra residents want Nicole Kidman to sleep in their bed - and
she's interested. Film director Baz Luhrmann's film Australia begins shooting in
the Kimberley town next month but producers have found one problem - there is no
where to accommodate the 400 cast and crew, including Hollywood stars Kidman and
Hugh Jackman, during peak tourism season. Organisers of the big budget movie are
asking residents to offer their homes to accommodate them because hotels and
caravan parks are fully booked. The film company want residents to move in with
family or friends or take a take a holiday so senior cast and crew have
somewhere to stay during the six weeks of shooting. Lachlan Burnett, who lives
in a two-story house overlooking Lake Kununurra, is willing to offer the
Hollywood starlet his bed as long as she signs his bed sheets. "I would give my
right arm, I would give any part of my body to have Nicole Kidman stay at my
house,'' Mr Burnett said. "I could just imagine Nicole opening up the doors of
my house in the morning and having that nice wind blowing through her hair.''
Mr Burnett, a pilot for Air North, said he would even offer his services and be
Kidman's personal pilot for the six-week stint and let her take anything she
wanted from the fridge. "She can even have all the Emu Bitters, that's one
condition I will even stock the fridge full of beer for her.''
Despite booking every room at the recently opened Kimberley Grande Hotel and
rooms at a number of motels film organisers still need more than 30 houses.
Brad Williams from Kimberley First National Real Estate has been approached by
the film company to help find suitable accommodation. Mr Williams said big
properties could be preferred over hotel and motel rooms by Kidman, Jackman and
Luhrmann. "There's every chance that a small number of very nice, very expensive
rural properties may be made available to the production company and some of
those might be suitable in terms of security and quality of accommodation for
key cast members like Nicole, Hugh, Baz and (his partner) Catherine Martin,'' he
said. Williams said while some of the crew may have to pay up to $300 a week for
a spare bedroom, there are women in town who are offering to pay to have Hugh
Jackman stay with them. "We've got a bid in for Nicole Kidman, but I don't think
it will succeed, apparently these people want privacy," he joked. "But their
needs aren't too extreme, they just need quality homes in locations that are
difficult to get to and can be secured. We've got a few places like that hidden
in the mangroves and agricultural areas." He said a six-bedroom house built
especially for short-term executive rentals which rents at $10,000 a week could
be suitable. The film company is negotiating with the race club to bring 80
campervans on to its racecourse. Luhrmann has even agreed to build an ablutions
block for the crew's six-week stay. Local hotels, motels and caravan parks were
unable to reserve rooms for the film company because they could not specify when
they would be arriving and how long they would be staying.
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War-hit Bowen lit up
The Townsville Bulletin, 14 June 2007
Bowen is under siege. Bomb blasts and blazing fires are exploding in the centre
of town as filming for Baz Luhrmann's Australia moves to war-time drama in
Darwin. The trail of destruction started at Mission Island on Santa Barbara
Parade, as cast and crew went about systematically destroying the set. Many
residents were wondering whether real fire would be used or if the trick of
special effects would be added. But their question was answered when Queensland
Fire and Rescue Service staff turned up on set – on stand-by in case anything
got out of hand. But an Australia spokeswoman was unwilling to reveal the tricks
of the trade. "I don't know – can you make fake fire?" she asked. "But if you
went and touched it, you would burn your hand." Filming has been centred at
Mission Island three nights this week, with the school house and church being
burnt down. It is understood that
Hugh Jackman's character Noah
is in the church with school children when Japanese invade and a fire breaks
out. In town, the carefully created facade at Carney's Corner has been pulled
away from historic buildings for when its time comes to burn. Bulldozers have
dug bomb craters in the red dirt road, dumped rubble and even unbalanced
military trucks.
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A starry close encounter
The Townsville Bulletin, 12 June 2007
Bowen's luckiest residents, the Daltons, cashed in on their once in a lifetime
prize last week – a meet and greet with the cast and crew on the set of
Australia. Dianne Dalton, who won the prize at Bowen's Seafood Festival, took
her husband Bruce, daughter Megan, and three of their friends for a tour of the
set and a chat with the movie's director Baz Luhrmann and his megastar Nicole
Kidman. "We had a look around the movie set and we had photos taken at places
around the set," Ms Dalton said. "We wandered around and then we met Nicole and
we chatted for a few minutes and had some photos taken with her and then we met
Baz and we chatted with him briefly and had some photos taken with him. "When we
met her she was in costume but she wasn't acting at the time. They are really,
really busy people, they work very long hours."
Ms Dalton had nothing but praise for the Hollywood heavyweights. "Everyone there
is really positive about the film and being here in Bowen and all the rest of it
and that's great," she said. "She (Nicole) was very gracious and she's
absolutely beautiful – I think she's more beautiful in real life than she is in
photos. She very open, down to earth, a nice woman. He (Baz) was good. He was a
bundle of energy and just a really nice guy." Ms Dalton said she had no trouble
mixing it with the celebrities, although she was not willing to ask Mr Luhrmann
how his outback epic was going to turn out. "I don't think that would have been
appropriate," she said. "We just spoke about generalities, you don't get into
deep and meaningfuls when you meet someone like that. "Nicole was very nice – we
just chatted about nothing in particular. Megan our daughter has very pale skin
and she was pretty keen to meet her because as you know Nicole Kidman has very
pale skin so I think we spoke about that and Nicole thought it was quite funny.
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Lack of thin men
The Townsville Bulletin, 12 June 2007
Baz Luhrmann's legendary attention to detail has left Bowen's men dieting down a
dress size. Luhrmann and his fellow movie makers could not find enough slim men
in Bowen to play extras during scenes of the harsh conditions and rationing of
WWII now being filmed on set. Especially difficult was finding thin men to be
extras for the army scenes. A visit to the local high school was necessary to
recruit enough fit young men for the military scenes. Production and costume
designer, Luhrmann's wife, Catherine Martin is also renowned for her sumptuous
design on films such as Moulin Rouge and Strictly Ballroom. It is believed she
is looking to win another Oscar with the design for their latest film. Inside
the set are a market garden, boarding house, brothel and dry goods store which
feature actual period pieces and detailed set design.
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Big bucks spent in Bowen
Townsville Bulletin, 9 June 2007
Bowen businesses are cashed up. Baz Luhrmann's production Australia has spent
more than $2 million alone on accommodation in Bowen over the past three weeks
at 21 different motels. More than 300 cast and crew members, including Hollywood
stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, are all being housed in and around the
small seaside town. Location manager Mary Barltrop said more than $1.43 million
had been spent on renting film locations, office space and stage space from more
than 30 businesses. Plus there were things like machinery rental and local
tradesmen to pay. "Every day we pay water trucks to dampen the red dirt we're
using on set, sometimes twice a day," she said. "Then there's things like
cutting the coconuts off the trees for safety purposes and we've had to have
made up a lot of extra road signs." Currently there are 260 extras casually
employed and by the end of the seven-week filming process there will be more
than 500 extras. Also the arts department has spent $850,000 and more than
$750,000 went on ensuring security around the set and stars. Security guards are
posted throughout the several locations around town, with two-thirds of them
being employed locally. With another few weeks of filming left to go that amount
again will be spent before their Bowen stint has been completed. Ms Barltrop
said the figures didn't include the money injected by crew through day to day
activities such as grocery shopping and other living expenses. The town has been
swamped with visitors. As of June 1 more than 6000 tourists had signed guest
books, collected by 98 Bowen volunteers. A total of 4983 adults and 436 children
have logged their details in the visitor books, which doesn't include the locals
who gather in front of the set every day.
Ms Barltrop said the volunteers had been a great help over the past three weeks.
"The movie's attracted a huge crowd and a big amount of interest and there are
so many people coming and talking to the volunteers," she said. "They're able to
give them the real colour and flavour of the movie and show them the artwork and
reference photos we have set up." Ms Barltrop said residents and businesses had
been 'extremely compensating' to the production. "Places like Jochheims Pies
have been opening seven days a week just to feed everyone," she said. "I don't
think there's been a day that I haven't been down there for a coffee along with
half the cast and crew. One of the government departments are actually working
out of Bryan Brown's office so they have been extremely compensating." Bowen
Mayor Mike Brunker said Australia had put Bowen on the map. He said the free
advertising the small town had received from the promotion of the film was
priceless. "They have been doing the right thing and looking after the local
businesses," he said. "They have been buying all their produce locally and their
catering from the butchers' shops. There is no better way to advertise Bowen as
a wonderful town to visit than what we have been getting."
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Stamp on Hollywood
Townsville Bulletin, 9 June 2007
Lick a stamp and send Bowen to the world with a new postcard featuring scenes and sets from Australia. Gordon Fellows, from Bowen Art and Framing, designed the artwork for the postcard and prints and took several of the photos featured himself. The postcard has pictures of Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, the Territory Hotel, stockmen and cattle, the Carney's cattle building, a World War I memorial and other buildings. Mr Fellows said the postcard was selling like hotcakes to tourists and locals. "We've had Hugh Jackman's driver in buying six of the large prints," Mr Fellows said. "They might be getting signed by Hugh and Nicole for charity. It's been flat out." Alice Fellows said the prints were also selling well to people who had roles in the movie. Mrs Fellows has been on set herself playing an 'army girl' extra in the film. "That's why I've got my hair curled like this," she said. "It's been great. I've seen Nicole up close. People in town are all taken up with the movie." Mr Fellows said there was one shopper they were keen to see. "We're hoping Baz will come in and get his print."
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Bowen's fling with Hollywood
Brisbane Times, 8 June 2007
The tour bus pulling into the north Queensland town of Bowen is
not here to see one of the area's seven beaches, or go on a
bushwalk. It is not even here to visit the museum or the
award-winning pie shop. The visitors which emerge from the
coach's air-conditioned innards, blinking in the sunlight, are
here to see a whole load of cattle being moved from one end of
the town's dusty main street to the other. Oh, and maybe also
catch a glance of a Hollywood superstar in the process. This is
because Bowen is the main location for Baz Luhrmann's latest
epic movie, Australia. Starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman,
the film is set in the 1930s, and revolves around the
relationship between a respectable English aristocrat (Kidman)
and a rough-and-ready cattle drover (Jackman). The two are
caught in World War II bombing raids, which is where Bowen comes
in: it is the stand-in location for Darwin.
For a town which lists The Big Mango as one of its chief
attractions, this is a bit of a change. Known by some as the
tomato capital of Queensland, Bowen's usual core of visitors are
backpackers who stream in for fruit and vegetable picking season
to earn enough cash to have some fun in Airlie Beach, 90km
south, or Townsville, 200km north. But thanks to Baz and
company, Bowen is attracting those on sleek air-conditioned
coaches as well as economy greyhound buses. It has meant that
beds are in short supply; great for the town's resorts, not so
great for the backpackers or people wanting to visit right now.
Thankfully Bowen is just a 45-minute drive from serene resorts
of Hydeaway Bay, at the northern edge of the Whitsunday Islands.
The absence of a few backpackers is no cause for complaint by
the townspeople though, who seem to have been swept up in the
movie excitement themselves. Chance meetings with megastars at
the fish and chip shop, the local cafe and even the supermarket
have left the locals star struck. Shops on every street hang
signs welcoming Hollywood to town, and opportunistic businesses
are selling Beefy Hugh Jackman pies or dressing up mannequins to
look like fair Nicole. Even the Shire Council website now greets
cyber guests to: "Bowen Shire Council: Hollywood style."
For the coach group, the first hint of the changes is the slogan
written in apartment block-high letters on the water tower which
overlooks the highway coming into town. It reads: "Bowenwood."
But real (or reel) action is at the far end of town, where whole
streets have been roped off for the filming, stretching from the
central Grand View Hotel to the waterfront and its long jetty.
It is this corner which the visitors make a beeline for, once
they are off their coaches. What Bowen locals say was "a hole in
the ground" has been turned into a 1930s town through the
addition of tonnes of red dirt, a thousand short-horn cattle and
half-a-dozen temporary buildings. Among the new edifices are an
open-air theatre (The Pearl), a brothel, and an outback pub
called the Territory Hotel. On filming days, movie fans seek
glimpses of the action by peering through the windows of the
pub, which has an extra layer of exterior to make it part of the
set. But no-one seems to mind a limited view: many movie
aficionados point out that filming in a real town is unusual in
the Hollywood world, where entire fake towns are built to
provide closed sets.
For the coach group, today is the cattle driving scene, so the
set is filled with the clouds of dust raised by the hooves of
the short-horn cattle and the horses carrying Jackman and his
body double. Volunteers smartly attired in "Australia"-branded
polo neck shirts greet the visitors and give them the inside
gossip on the film, the stars, and the town. Joan, 72, is one of
the 90 volunteers (the film's management asked for 60) giving
her Bowen tales a coating of Hollywood glitz. "I have to keep
remembering that it's meant to be Darwin," she said, chiding
herself. "It's not Bowen." As always, the best tales are
personal: Joan's husband wandered into the volunteering hall
himself to take a look, only to be given acting roles as a
barman, storekeeper and movie-theatre attendant. "I told him I
was going to kill him when we got home," she joked, before
launching back into movie details. "He told me the film they are
meant to be showing (at the 1930s Darwin theatre) is The Wizard
of Oz, which didn't come out for another four years, so it shows
you they have to cheat a bit." Joan also explained that the
temporary movie set was unlikely to stay up for long after
filming as they were not cyclone proof. The irony is that it was
a cyclone that cost Darwin most of its old buildings; part of
the reason Bowen was chosen as the location.
Even now Bowen evokes the feeling of an age gone by; streets as
wide as a six-lane highway and hotel buildings so old you feel
like you are already on a movie set. Baz Luhrmann himself was
taken aback when he discovered the 1940s Summergarden movie
theatre already in Bowen, and immediately started using it to
view the end-of-day "rushes" - the raw footage he had shot that
day. When the set is taken down and the crew drive out of town,
it will be places like the Summergarden which people will still
flock to - maybe even to watch the end product. But others have
called for there to be a more lasting monument to the day
Hollywood fever came to Bowen. One businessman even suggested
the set should be preserved as it is and turned into a permanent
tourist attraction. Yet it is more likely that Bowen will mark
the moment in a way they are more familiar with: a mural.
Bowen's history is already celebrated in 24 murals painted
around the town, so maybe a 25th will be on the cards.
The Bowen Shire Mural Society has been giving guided tours of
the murals on Thursday evenings between April and September -
long before Baz ever came to town. Their committee's next
decision might be whether the latest mural includes the day Hugh
Jackman went body surfing in pristine Horseshoe Bay or the night
Keith Urban played an impromptu gig at the local pub. But
there's no doubt that there will only be one way to get the full
story: get off the coach and ask a local about the day Baz came
to town.
IF YOU GO:
Filming on Australia is due to continue in Bowen until the start
of July 2007, before it moves on to other locations around the
country. Cape Gloucester Eco Resort, in Hydeaway Bay, is around
a 45-minute drive south of Bowen and offers motel rooms (from
$100 midweek/$165 Fri-Sun) and cabins ($165 midweek/ $220
Fri-Sun) next to a pristine beach with views to Gloucester
Island, one of the largest islands in the Whitsunday group.
Details: visit
http://www.capegloucester.com. Visit
http://www.tourismbowen.com.au
for details of resorts and
attractions in Bowen;
http://www.australiamovie.net for more
on the film.
---
Baz's army defies rain
Townsville Bulletin, 7 June 2007
Rain, hail or shine, filming goes on at the Bowen set of Baz Luhrmann's epic
Australia. The town was a little wet underfoot after it rained for most of the
day yesterday. There had also been light showers in the town on Monday and
Tuesday. Location manager Mary Barltrop said filming would continue even if it
rained heavily on set, as there is a
wet weather cover schedule. "Most movies have a wet weather cover schedule, not
just ours," she said. "We can film inside for a few (scenes)." On Tuesday, the
filming concentrated on external shots of the evacuation of Darwin and
manoeuvres by the military extras. But yesterday morning, filming had moved
undercover onto the veranda of the Carney's corner building, presumably because
of the rain. Ms Barltrop said the scenes on the veranda had been scheduled for
filming yesterday. "This was scheduled today by coincidence," she said. "The
shots were bought forward to the morning. We are doing some interior shots and
some exterior shots between showers." She said the rain earlier in the week had
no effect on the filming schedule for Monday and Tuesday. "Continuity has been
fine," Ms Barltrop said. "It would have been different if it was torrential
rain. "We started filming on the war-time zone and on Monday it was cloudy then
too and it has been quite consistent." Heavy rain could prove quite a headache
for the film makers as the roads of the World War II-era Darwin set are made of
specially mixed red dirt trucked in for the movie. The weather bureau recorded
3mm of rain for Bowen up to 5pm yesterday. Showers earlier in the week had only
seen about 1mm of rainfall recorded for the town.
---
Extra tired, dirty but smiling
Townsville Bulletin, 7 June 2007
They're tired and dirty and they miss their wives. But Townsville historic
vehicle enthusiasts Col Feather, Mark Eardman, Rod Roach and Warren Beasley are
having the time of their lives on the newly militarised set of Australia. Even
if they do have to keep doing the same thing over and over. The men are all
members of the Townsville Military and Historic Vehicle Club. "We're having a
good time but missing the wife because the clothes are a bit dirty," Mr Feather
said. "We're given one set [of clothes] a week and they don't get washed." The
men will appear in the movie alongside their restored vehicles as army drivers
and have been issued with World War II-era army uniforms. "I had to pin my
trousers to my shirt to stop them falling down yesterday," Mr Roach said. Four vehicles
including a Ford Blitz ambulance, a Club GMC 6x6, a Studebaker US6 and an
International have been sourced through the club and are being used on the set
of Australia. "We might drive 10 foot then reverse and do it again and again for
each take," Mr Eardman said. "We're terrorising the foot soldiers by driving up
behind them. It's safe though, everything is done at walking pace." While a
couple of the men are ex-army, being in Baz's army is nothing like the real
thing. "It's just playing really, it's nothing like an actual re-enactment," Mr
Roach said.
---
Wartime transformation
Townsville Bulletin, 6 June 2007
Nicole Kidman was back in Bowen yesterday after a quick trip away to Sydney for
a glamorous photo shoot. The statuesque actress was spotted by patient
fans as she ran up and down the jetty in a skirt, blue shirt and brown felt hat.
She was part of the filming for the movie Australia's Darwin evacuation scenes.
The town has had another movie makeover in preparation for the next stage of
shooting. Gone are the dusty rural streets in favour of World War II Darwin,
complete with military tent city and air raid sirens. Set dressers worked
quickly over the weekend to give the Bowen beachfront a military look, replacing
the cattle with Jeeps and soldiers. Actors and extras on the set of Australia
this week re-enacted scenes from World War II Darwin as women and children fled
the city to safety.
Movie information volunteer Joan Giachin said the filming of the evacuation scenes started on Monday morning. The scenes being filmed are based on historical events in December 1941 and January 1942 when authorities evacuated women and children from Darwin. The evacuation became necessary as an invasion of Australia by the Japanese seemed likely after the bombing of Pearl Harbour, the fall of Singapore and the occupation of Malaya. Yesterday, filming centred on Kidman's scenes on the old wharf. Hugh Jackman also made an impromptu visit to volunteers and crowds in Herbert Street during a quick break in the morning's filming yesterday. Witnesses reported Jackman only had time for one quick photo opportunity with a lucky fan before having to dash back to set for the next scene.
---
Australia dreaming on a carpet of fake red dust
Sydney Morning Herald, 4 June 2007
Big-picture man Baz Luhrmann is a stickler for detail. Garry Maddox goes on
location. In A darkened warehouse in a Queensland coastal town, the director Baz
Luhrmann issues an unlikely instruction. "Can we have a little more sweat for
Jack, please?" Given the baking heat, Jack Thompson, playing a sozzled
accountant named Kipling Flynn in the epic romance Australia, must be sweating
heavily already in an improvised studio in Bowen. But details matter on a
$US100-million ($120-million) film, so more sweat it is. Thompson, in white
breeches and waistcoat, is playing a scene opposite Nicole Kidman, buttoned up
in white as the English aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley, who comes to Australia
after inheriting a vast cattle station.
Luhrmann calls action …
Flynn: If King Carney's good Christian wife ever makes the same discovery
that you have, Fletcher's hopes of marrying his daughter would be dashed.
Ashley: I'm going to the authorities. I'll be telling them everything.
Flynn: Carney is the authority around here.
Despite
extensive paparazzi coverage, it's the first chance to see what is happening on
the set of Luhrmann's first film since taking Moulin Rouge to the Oscars. It's a
romance between Lady Sarah and a rough drover (Hugh Jackman) that involves a
long outback cattle drive and climaxes with the bombing of Darwin by the
Japanese - with 188 aircraft in the first raid alone - in 1942. But the US
producer Mac Brown, whose last film was The Departed, says the film also taps
into the stolen generation story. "A woman from England comes to this far away
land called Australia and discovers life," he says. "It's a big epic story that
spans years, that has moments of history. People are born and people die.
There's a war." And the script? "It makes you laugh and makes you cry and makes
you cry again, and makes you cry again."
On the balcony of the Territory Hotel, created for the film, Luhrmann tells the
visiting federal Communications Minister, Helen Coonan, that Bowen has proved to
be a good choice for 1930s Darwin despite being windy. "They call it Blowin'
Bowen," he says. "But actually it's been only a good thing because when the bad
weather comes - at least it blows away very quickly."
Touring the set, while a second unit films 150 cattle being driven into a yard,
it's obvious why Australia is costing so much. Designer Catherine Martin, who
won two Oscars for Moulin Rouge, has created an entire town that is "a creative
interpretation" of Darwin and Broome at the time. There are the stockyards of
the Carney Cattle Company, run by a cattle baron played by Bryan Brown. The red
dust is an illusion - it was mixed for camera tests in Sydney then shipped to
the set.
The Territory Hotel looks like it could serve beer. It has a bar with a
suggestive 1939 calendar, racing odds chalked on a blackboard, stuffed
crocodiles in a cabinet, faded photos of horses and bulls, and signs saying
"Kanga bitter", "Stewed wallaby and vegies - 5 bob" and "No non-whites". The
locals would love to keep the pub as a tourist attraction but it is due to be
bombed once the set changes to wartime Darwin. Already, an army tank is under
green plastic nearby, military tents are being assembled and blue screens have
been erected near the wharf so computer-generated warships can be added later.
Behind the pub is the Chinatown brothel, Faruk's Palace of a Thousand Bees
(using extras supplied by the local Chinese and Thai restaurants), Wu Fang's
laundry, corrugated iron humpies and a market garden. The colours are as lavish
as the detailing is intricate: at the Star Soup Shop, there's a half-eaten bowl
of noodles, Chinese checkers and a Chinese newspaper on battered tables. The
Sunshine Emporium offers hats on blocks, slippers, pans, bolts of cloth and
lamps.
And the Pearl Picture Gardens is an open-air cinema with plaster kangaroos and
posters for The Wizard of Oz and Let George Do It out front, packets of Fantales,
Jaffas and Minties on display in the foyer and rows of deck chairs in front of a
big screen. A sign says "no spitting". The cinema has been used for a scene in
which the wet arrives - drenching everyone - during a movie.
The film is a vast enterprise covering 6.5 hectares on the waterfront and
involving this day almost 400 cast, crew and extras. Four weeks into filming,
there are five months to go. Luhrmann, who is the same perpetually enthusiastic
figure he was on the set of Moulin Rouge, is filming next in Darwin, Kununurra,
then back in Sydney. "I never see him eat," says Mac Brown. "I never see him
sleep … he's just moving forward always."
---
Director's thanks
Townsville Bulletin, 4 June 2007
Bowen's work ethic has
won over Australia film director Baz Luhrmann. He said it was thanks to the 500
extras putting in long hours that his latest movie would prevail. Luhrmann
turned up to Bowen's Queensland Week celebrations yesterday with his wife and
two young children to thank the residents for their hard work and perseverance
during the seven-week filming schedule. He spent more than an hour talking with
locals and posing for photos. "The whole township has been extremely
committed, it's like their spirit is leading the film to be good," he said.
"Everyone is playing a role and because they haven't done it before they're
doing it with such enthusiasm and intense commitment. It's one thing to be
laughing your head off at 9am. By nine at night after they've been doing it all
day, to still be going and giving it everything, you can really see it in the
footage."
He said it wasn't only the people involved in the movie who were helping the
film to become a success, but also the town itself. "It is very difficult to
make a film at a labour level here, but we could be waking up in drizzly Sydney
at the moment," he said. "(The beautiful weather and surroundings) has been
really helping the crew and the company come together. (Bowen's) a really family
friendly place too and a lot of the crew have family and kids and love getting
out. Hugh and Nicole are really actually enjoying being here and it's good for
the spirit so therefore good for the film."
Luhrmann said filming scenes such as the cattle run through the town's main
street had been challenging for both cast and crew. "The triumphant return of
the cattle to town has been fantastic because for months and months Nicole and
Hugh have been training and riding," he said. "To see Nicole Kidman and Hugh
Jackman actually on their own horses, actually driving the cattle themselves
down through the streets of Bowen, you don't see that every day in the movies,
that's for sure. So that was pretty great."
Filming is running about a week behind schedule but Luhrmann said Bowen
residents would have their town back to normal in a month. "After this we're
going on to Darwin and then Kununurra out into Western Australia and then back
to Sydney at the end of the year so it's a giant circus that's on the road for
most of this year," he said.
---
Cattle makes way for war
Townsville Bulletin, 2 June 2007
It looks like Bowen's at war. The military has taken over the set of Baz
Luhrmann's Australia. What was once a cattle station has been transformed into a
militarised 1940s Darwin. There are old military vehicles driving through the
streets, and marching soldiers and tents are appearing everywhere. The cattle
have been shipped out and tents and army personnel will take their place.
Location manager Mary Barltrop said the entire transformation was expected to be
completed over the weekend. "There are military tents being pitched all over the
set at the moment," she said. "There's extra fencing being put up and military
wire fencing that goes around the cattle yard. A lot of sandbags are being
brought in and there will be bits of signage that will change to the more
military theme. It will all be done by Monday morning. We have an incredibly
talented art department who are going to turn the set into wartime Darwin in a
very short space of time." Ms Barltrop said the tent city would house a mixture
of civilians and soldiers throughout the movie. Yesterday about 100 extras who
will play soldiers could be seen marching through the streets of Bowen in
preparation for a movie scene where more than 400 extras will be used. The men
were led by two drill sergeants who put them through their paces in anticipation
for the marching scene. The set will undergo a final transformation in coming
weeks after Darwin has been bombed.
---
Brush with stars still a thrill
Townsville Bulletin, 2 June 2007
Talk about name-dropping. It seems everyone in Bowenwood has brushed
shoulders with the stars since the cast and crew of Baz Luhrmann's Australia
arrived in town. The Hollywood stars promised they would mix it with the locals,
and so far they have been true to their word. From the local IGA to the corner
fish and chip shop, the stars have been popping up when locals least expect it.
And the Bowenites are not shy about speaking up about what it's like to be
neighbours with Nic. Fellows Fish Bar owners Lynda and Robert Fellow were among
the first to meet Nicole and husband Keith Urban when they popped in for fish
and chips on their first night in town. "They were just like normal people," Mrs
Fellow said. "The cashier who served them said she was a lovely girl. They
pulled up the front and came in alone. They stood near the counter and chatted
quietly while we made their dinner."
It seems Urban has been enjoying the local cuisine while his wife is at work.
Jeaneys Cafe owner Hazel Fairlamb has become the flavour of the month with Urban
after he came into the cafe every day this week. "He has been ordering homemade
pea and ham soup and homemade vegetable quiche," Ms Fairlamb said. Cafe worker
Craig Joy said he was also getting used to running into Urban after serving him
three or four times already. "We have had staff, crew and all the stars eating
here and they have been really friendly," Mr Joy said. "If anything, we could
say we have made a lot of friends."
A-list stars have also been dining at the North Queensland Cruising Yacht Club.
Bryan Brown, Ben Mendelsohn and David Wenham have been sharing drinks with
locals overlooking Bowen's picturesque harbour. Commodore Terry Pilcher, who
also owns the town's hardware store, said business was booming everywhere and
people were often getting a shock when they looked up to see who they were
serving. "It's nice to see them mingle with the locals," Commodore Pilcher said.
But it's not all about dining out. Tamara Robson was shopping at the IGA when
she bumped into Hugh Jackman. "He was out shopping with his kids and his mum and
dad," Ms Robson said. "He was very friendly and really natural – just like any
normal person. I got him to sign an autograph and I'm going to frame it
eventually." Ms Robson said although she had seen Jackman in movies like X-Men,
he was a different man in person. "He's so much taller than I would have
imagined," she said.
And Glenn Womal was just as impressed when she met Hugh on the beach at
Horseshoe Bay. "He had his shirt off and he is hot. He has a perfect body and a
beautiful smile," Mrs Womal said. "He had his little girl on his shoulders and
he put her down to sign my autograph. He signed the collar of my shirt and he
touched my neck."
But volunteer tour guide Cristian Lenske has the thickest autograph book. So far
he has had a photo taken with Nic and Hugh and has met Bryan Brown, David Wenham
and child star Brandon Walters. "They are all really nice," Mr Lenske said.
"Nicole and Hugh walked straight up to thank the volunteers, they are really
down to earth." The owner of the local antique shop has not only met Kidman,
Jackman, Brown and Mendelsohn but they have all purchased goods from her store.
"They buy anything and everything," the shop owner said. "We even supplied some
antique furniture to the crew who are using it as part of the movie."
Summergarden Theatre owner Ben De Luca met Baz Luhrmann when he first visited
Bowen early last year and has since got to know the director quite well when he
visits the theatre to view rushes of the day's take. "Baz, as you would expect,
is a gentleman always," Mr De Luca said. "He shakes your hand and says, 'Ben,
how are you today mate?' and when he's leaving he makes sure to come up to you
and say thank you."
---
Director's cut
Townsville Bulletin, 1 June 2007
Bowen's Summergarden Theatre may be the most secret theatre in the country since
becoming the cutting room floor for Baz Luhrmann's Australia. Raw footage from
the day's take is being privately shown at the 1940s theatre for Luhrmann and
his head honchos to cast their eyes over for errors and inaccuracies. Referred
to as `rushes' in Hollywood lingo, the footage is rushed to the labs in Sydney
to be processed and then rushed back to Bowen for Luhrmann and his assistants to
view before giving the tick of approval. Theatre owner and Bowen cinema pioneer
Ben De Luca said they used the facility every few days. "All of his editing
staff, the director of photography, all the big-wigs in the production crew,
they all come here to view the rushes," he said. "There's no sound, just the
actual picture, and that's really all they want to see, just to make sure
there's no strange beer cans floating around on the ground or something that
shouldn't be there." Mr De Luca said after the screening he suspected they went
into conference to discuss changes and omissions. Sometimes they rushed out,
possibly to re-film scenes, like one where he had noticed a jet skier and
tugboat accidentally in the background. "I have spotted a couple of things but
they won't be there in the finished product, you can bet on that," Mr De Luca
said.
According to him, Australia's executives had settled on the theatre during their first visit to Bowen early last year, although he didn't know it at the time. "Baz Luhrmann and his wife were in a group with the locations manager and a host of other people, pretty important technical people," he said. "They came and wanted to have a look at the theatre after having driven past it and they were so impressed that we agreed to take them through. I didn't know who they were until we got chatting and Baz asked me a question." Mr De Luca said Luhrmann and his crew were impressed with the facilities the Summergarden had to offer. "They were amazed to find that we had such a facility here that is capable of doing it," he said. "The steadiness of the picture on the screen, the focus and with our curved screen it enables all the film to be in focus, the sides as well as the centre." Clearly, Mr De Luca is overwhelmed with being part of Hollywood history. And from the odd sneak peek he's had when loading and unloading the film into the projector, he said we've got a blockbuster heading our way. "It's one of the greatest feelings you can have, it's the culmination of my career," he said. "It's a marvellous way to go out in my age on a high note of this calibre. It's a real buzz I can tell you because I don't think anyone besides cast and crew have seen as much of this film as I have and I'm very honoured. It's looking super, it really is. Just look forward to it and you'll be amazed."
---
Guest book madness
Townsville Bulletin, 31 May 2007
All roads lead to Bowen as filming for Baz Luhrmann's movie epic Australia
continues. Thousands of visitors from around the world have converged on the
seaside town with the hope of snaring a glimpse at Hollywood heavyweights Nicole
Kidman and Hugh Jackman. Their names have been entered in almost a dozen
visitors' books posted around the region. People from as far as the UK, Germany,
France, Holland, Ireland, Turkey, USA, Korea and parts of Africa have recorded
their presence. Others from around Australia have signed the books, including
one larrikin who noted his origin as "Pissed from Oz" and his postcode as "4005
I think". Volunteer Elaine Kroon said they have come in numbers. "We've just
been marking them off like a cricket score book," she said. "People from all
over the world, you name it, everywhere."
Surprisingly it's the Yanks that make up the majority of the visitors. "There
are many Americans," Ms Kroon said. "Americans are very intrigued with filming.
"Most of their stuff is filmed on closed sets, not done in a town the way this
is being done here, so this is very unique and Americans are quite taken by it
all. "'We don't see anything like this in the States,' they say." Their most
common question Ms Kroon said was why a movie set in Darwin was being filmed in
Bowen. "It's a bit difficult for them to understand but they are getting around
to it," Ms Kroon laughed.
According to Ms Kroon there were also a lot of Australians making the trip to
see how movies were brought to life. "A lot are coming to see just the movie
set," she said. "We are getting people from Western Australia, South Australia,
Victoria, NSW, Tasmania. We are getting people from even just Mackay and
Townsville that haven't been to Bowen themselves so they are coming to checking
it out. Most times people bypass Bowen, they don't come in. Because of the movie
they are taking the detour and coming in and checking it all out and having a
look which is great for Bowen."
---
Brief stardom
Townsville Bulletin, 30 May 2007
Bowen's famous cattle may end up as hamburgers. Currently they're living a life
of luxury _ they have drovers by their side 24 hours a day, sprinklers to keep
them cool and they're led by Hollywood royalty Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.
Location manager Mary Barltrop said they had to be the best looked-after steers
in the country. "I'm surprised they're not in the make up trailers every day,"
she said. "But they have been doing a wonderful job of kicking up lots of red
dust. There's 700 odd cattle there so watching them is like a tsunami of
cattle." On their days off they can be seen lazing around the mangroves along
Quay St either munching on grass or wallowing in the mud. But Ms Barltrop said
they shouldn't get used to their relaxing lifestyle anytime soon. "After filming
ends they will be having a couple of weeks holiday out at pasture to let them
get over their hectic schedule," she said. "Then we're taking about 200 up to
Kunanara with us in July and the remaining 500 will be sold." She said there
were no details yet on when the cattle would go to auction.
The large mob have played a major part in the epic movie, creating a cattle stampede. Ms Barltrop said there were some members of the crew who would not be upset to see them go. "We have an off-set cattle yard where some of the cattle are being kept that are right near where some of the crew are staying," she said. "They've been coming into work bleary-eyed because the cattle have kept them awake all night with their loud mooing." The long-horned beasts are now working on overtime. They were due to finish filming last Friday but Ms Barltrop said she had her fingers crossed filming with the cattle would be over tomorrow.
---
Raffle winner meets stars
Townsville Bulletin, 30 May 2007
When Dianne Dalton heard her name had been drawn to meet the stars of
Australia she didn't get her hopes up. There are two Bowen women with the same
name and with her luck she didn't think it would be her. But when she received a
call to confirm her win she was over the moon. "We heard from one of Megan's
friends from school that they announced my name," she said. "But I thought
`let's not get too excited until we hear from the movie people'." Only days
later she received the call that she and five friends had the opportunity to
meet with director Baz Luhrmann, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. Mrs Dalton said
her husband Bruce and 16-year-old daughter Megan would accompany her but she had
yet to decide the remaining three people. She entered the competition at last
Saturday's Bowen Seafood Festival where free raffle tickets were being handed
out for people to win the chance to meet the stars. Mr Dalton said his wife was
not the luckiest person and she deserved the win. "She said it was the only
thing she had won since winning a frozen chook at a country dance when she was a
teenager," he said. "When she heard she won she was so excited and she was
ringing everyone but no one was answering their phone." The lucky six have the
opportunity to personally meet the stars and director of Australia and pose for
a photo with them. Mrs Dalton said she couldn't wait for the meeting that was
yet to be set. "It's very, very exciting and I just can't get over it," she
said. "My mother's excited and she's 81. I think they're going to be very nice
people."
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War trucks' starring role
Townsville Bulletin, 29 May 2007
Townsville World War II trucks rumbled into Bowen yesterday, ready for their
movie debut. The set of Baz Luhrmann's Australia will begin undergoing a
transformation today into a militarised 1940s Darwin. Four antique military
trucks – a military ambulance, a GMC, a Studebaker US6 and an International –
arrived yesterday on the back of semi trailers. Military and Historic Vehicle
Club of Townsville vice-president Col Feather made the trip down with the
trucks, along with some fellow club members. The men will play the drivers of
the vehicles when they join the 400-odd extras being used during military scenes
early next week. Mr Feather will be behind the wheel of the military ambulance,
which he has spent years restoring, with the help of his uncle Lyle Smith and
some mates. He said the final paint touches had only been added to the vehicle
on Monday. But it had come a long way since it was found abandoned. "Twenty
years ago it was pulled out from its resting place at Mt Molloy," he said. "I'm
glad everyone will get to see how good it looks now it's been brought back to
the original look." Another one of his vehicles appearing in the movie, the
Studebaker, has already made its movie debut in The Thin Red Line that was
filmed in the 1990s.
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'Keith Urban' wins race
Townsville Bulletin, 28 May 2007
Keith Urban was all beady eyes and threatening claws at this weekend's
first ever Bowen Seafood Festival. Keith Urban the mudcrab that is. It seemed
right that he should take out this year's first Nicole Kidman Cup crab race and
he did it in style. Although fellow racers Hugh Jackman and John Howard put on a
good show it was Keith that took the lead and won the race. Sadly, all 12
competitors will end up in the cooking pot - even winner Keith. On Saturday
about 5000 people turned out at Hansen Park for the inaugural festival. Fresh
seafood was the order of the day, with people munching on fresh prawns, fish and
even the poor mudcrabs. Although passing rain put a damper on the day at times,
families, visitors and Australia film crew alike turned up at the festival. Six
lucky event goers will even be given the chance to meet the stars of Baz
Luhrmann's movie, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman and the director himself.
Queensland Seafood Industry representative and event organiser Terry Must said
the crowd turnout 'beat all expectations'. "We thought the fishing classic was
big but the turnout was fantastic," he said. "It was programmed to run between
11am and 7pm and at 11.30am all the car parks were full. I think some of the
food outlets had to run for more tucker at 1pm. We had a shower of rain and we
thought that would thin out the crowd but people kept coming. All the
stallholders are rapt and served close to 1000 people each. It will be bigger
and better next year."
---
Film provides tourism drawcard for Kununurra
ABC News Online, 28 May 2007
Tourism authorities in Kununurra, in northern Western Australia, are reporting a
surge of interest in the region ahead of the filming of Baz Luhrmann's new film
Australia. The Kununurra Visitor Centre says it is already fielding a
significant number of enquiries about the epic starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh
Jackman. Scenes for the film are due to be shot around Kununurra from late July,
with about 300 cast and crew expected to converge on the town. The centre's
general manager, Peter Grigg, says the movie is likely to continue to be a
tourism drawcard once it is released. "I know what it's done for New Zealand
with the Lord of the Rings trilogy," he said. "I'm not saying the same thing
will happen here, but I know that every little town that's had one of these
movies made in it has reaped a whole heap of benefits." The centre's reported a
big increase in patronage, with just under 90,000 people visiting the facility
throughout 2006, up from 64,000 in 2001. Numbers through the centre's doors are
predicted to exceed 92,000 this year.
---
Nic and Hugh throw party
The Daily Telegraph, 27 May 2007
Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman threw a lavish private party for the cast and crew of the $130 million outback epic Australia last night. Kidman's husband Keith Urban was expected to make an impromptu appearance as the main musical attraction. The celebration, at a local pub in north Queensland, capped off an action-packed week for the stars, whose gutsy performances on horseback have been praised by director Baz Luhrmann. As these exclusive photographs show, Kidman is revelling in her role as an English aristocrat who inherits a cattle farm. "She insists on doing all the stunts, which is pretty amazing,'' said horse master Craig Emerton, who has been training Kidman and Jackman since April. In a scene reminiscent of the buffalo stampede in Dances With Wolves, hundreds of cattle thundered down the main street last week, led by Kidman on horseback. "Nicole had 750 cattle bearing down on her and, with her whip cracking, she's just performed amazingly,'' Emerton said. "I've told her if she wants to quit acting, we can make her into a horse-riding champion.'' Last night Kidman charmed more than 400 cast and crew, as well as Bowen volunteers, who crowded into the Grandview Hotel for the invitation-only celebration. A crew member said: "Nicole is having a ball at the moment and she loves filming in Australia. She and Hugh just wanted to say thanks to everyone involved in the film''. "It's a chance to relax and let their hair down for the first time,'' he said. Crates of champagne were ordered in to toast the night, which was to culminate in Urban taking to the stage. Among those partying were Bryan Brown, David Wenham and Ben Mendelsohn. Kidman has confided to the crew that she is enjoying the action scenes and it was a delight to have her husband and son, Connor, 12, on set.
The Queensland coastal town of Bowen,
where a third of the film will be shot, has been dramatically transformed into
1938 Darwin. Bitumen roads have been replaced with red dirt, the sea air is
thick with the stench of cow dung and horse manure and modern buildings have had
panels added for the wartime era. Each day, locals line the streets, waiting
patiently in the heat for the treacherous cattle drives. But as Bowen comes to
terms with its newfound national fame, the town is awash with wild rumours that
Kidman, her horse-riding efforts notwithstanding, might be pregnant. "Ludicrous,
absolutely not true,'' a close source said. One clear fact in a swirl of rumour
is that motels, hostels and even caravan parks are booked out. Locals have
started billeting visitors in their homes, the retirement village is offering
beds and the CWA is also cashing in, renting out its hall. Jochheims Bakery is
doing a roaring trade, with even Keith Urban popping in to try a Hunky Hugh pie
and a Kidmango White Chocolate Cheesecake. He has also been spotted riding his
Harley Davidson motorbike around the district. While Kidman's personal bodyguard
is always close, the film stars are trying to mingle with locals. Kidman popped
into the local pub on Wednesday night for the State of Origin. Jackman took his
son for a swim at Horseshoe Bay and David Wenham posed for photos while buying
groceries at the local supermarket. "We're all star-struck,'' said Scott
McCormick, who is among hundreds of locals employed as extras. "I did a
mammoth 16-hour day but I don't mind. There's a lot of waiting around,'' Mr
McCormick, 27, said. In his role as a drover he said he's swallowed plenty of
red dust. "When the cows are going past they shovel all this red dust so it
looks like there are a couple of thousand cows stampeding. I was coughing up
plenty of dirt by the end.''
The world's paparazzi have been camped in the small Queensland town for the past
two weeks. While they have snared plenty of photos of Kidman and Jackman
filming on set, what they desperately want is the big-money shot of Kidman with
her husband. The photo would command a price tag of at least $100,000, said
photographer Cameron Laird. "If we got Nicole and Keith hand in hand on the
beach or riding down the main street of Bowen the price would be enormous,'' he
said. A photo of Nicole with son Connor, 12, would also demand ferocious
bidding. But with Connor set to return to the US - and his father Tom Cruise -
tomorrow, time is running out.
---
Nic rides tall
Courier Mail, 27 May 2007
In two short weeks Nicole Kidman has gone from an immaculately dressed English aristocrat to weathered cattle drover, in a role she is clearly relishing. As Lady Sarah in Baz Luhrmann's epic Australia – which is being filmed in Bowen in north Queensland – Kidman has impressed many with her skills as a horsewoman. In one recent scene, she thundered on horseback down Bowen's main street ahead of a herd of 750 cattle, as whips cracked and dust flew in the air. An on-set source told The Sunday Mail Kidman was "loving" getting into her outback role and shows no fear when herding cattle. Co-star Hugh Jackman is equally commanding as a rugged stockman and every bit the part with his dirt-covered face and sweat-stained clothes. The daily cattleyard scenes are a far cry from when an impeccably dressed Kidman, as Lady Sarah, arrived at the town's jetty – which had been transformed into 1930s Darwin – holding a parasol for the first day of filming. The 500 cast and crew get a break from filming today, but they may well need it to recover from a "thank you" concert put on by Jackman and Kidman at the Grand View Hotel last night. "Nicole is having a ball at the moment and she loves filming in Australia. She and Hugh just wanted to say thank you to everyone involved in the film," a crew member said. "It's a chance to relax and let their hair down for the first time." Crates of champagne were ordered in to toast the night, which was to culminate in Urban taking to the stage. Among those partying were actors Bryan Brown, David Wenham and Ben Mendelsohn. Kidman has confided to the crew that she is enjoying the action scenes, and said it was a delight to have her husband and son, Connor, 12, on set as well.
As Bowen comes to terms with its newfound national fame, the town is awash with rumours that Kidman, her horseriding notwithstanding, may be pregnant "Ludicrous, absolutely not true," said a close source. One indisputable fact is that every motel, hostel and even caravan park in the area is booked out. Locals have started billeting visitors in their homes, the retirement village is offering beds and the CWA is also cashing in, renting out its hall. While Kidman's personal bodyguard is always at close hand, the stars are trying to mingle with locals. Kidman popped into the pub on Wednesday night for the State of Origin. Jackman took his son for a swim at Horseshoe Bay and Wenham posed for photos at the supermarket.
---
New face of Australia
Sydney Morning Herald, 27 May 2007
At the age of seven, Brandon Walters beat leukaemia. At age 11 he is the face of
Australia - a young boy plucked from obscurity to star alongside Nicole Kidman
and Hugh Jackman in one of this country's biggest film productions. Brandon, 11,
was chosen by director Baz Luhrmann for one of the pivotal roles in Australia
after a nationwide search for an indigenous boy to perform alongside the film's
Hollywood superstars. "He's a very capable young man with a natural cinematic
chemistry," said Luhrmann, who hand-picked Walters for the role. Brandon had
never heard of Kidman or Jackman nor left Western Australia before being
earmarked for the blockbuster film. His mother, Janie Wright, says her son
auditioned for the role of a young Aboriginal horseman after being spotted with
his father at the local pool by a casting director. "We got a letter from the
director [Luhrmann] saying he was very, very interested in him," Ms Wright told
The West Australian. "He didn't know who Hugh Jackman was and he didn't know
Nicole Kidman," she said. The boy, who was living with his family in an
Aboriginal community near Broome, is untrained as an actor but is now immersed
in filming in the north Queensland town of Bowen. "The demands of filming extend
over a six-month duration which is a big challenge for an 11-year-old boy with
no previous acting experience," said Luhrmann, in a statement provided by his
publicist. "In the end it was the incredible support that surrounds him in the
form of his family, his school and the larger Broome community that was the
final deciding factor." Luhrmann spent time with Brandon and his family at the
community near Broome, with locals saying he listened to traditional camp-fire
stories and Brandon play the harmonica. Brandon then attended film workshops at
Sydney's Fox Studios with other indigenous boys, before being chosen for the
role. He is now in Bowen, learning horse riding and singing, and being schooled
on set. Brandon has been spotted happily mixing with Jackman, Kidman and her
son, Connor, and has been accompanied to the set by his own family from Western
Australia. He will travel with the big-budget production to Darwin and Western
Australia in late June and July.
---
Hugh, Nicole waiting for love
News.com.au, 26 May 2007
It has been dubbed Gone with the Wind meets Out of Africa. And while there has
been plenty of action, so far there has been no sign of the raunchy love scenes
promised by screen siren Nicole Kidman. The Aussie Oscar winner laughingly
told The Courier-Mail how keenly she was looking forward to "more than a kiss"
with co-star Hugh Jackman in the $130 million Baz Luhrmann outback epic
Australia. But just two weeks into filming in Bowen and her English aristocrat
character Lady Sarah is clearly yet to be seduced by the "rough-hewn" charm of
the outback stockman. Both Hollywood heart-throbs have, however, been wooing the
ever-increasing crowds flocking to "Bowenwood" with some consummate displays of
horsemanship. Some of the more dramatic scenes shot in the main street this week
involved Kidman and Jackman getting into a heated argument with self-proclaimed
"bad bastard" and cattle baron Bryan Brown. Both parties exchange words before
the two Sydneysiders wheel their mounts and gallop off through a mob of cattle
into a cloud of dust.
Jackman looks the part with his two-week-old beard, sweat-stained shirt and
cowboy hat. But the Hollywood hunk admits it has been a steep learning curve
trying to master the art of riding like a ringer, mustering cattle and tossing
steers. "I have been taking tips from some of the best in the trade," the X-Men
star said. Veteran Cape York stockman Neville Hutton, who built the
old-fashioned wooden cattle yards in the Bowen film set, said he had offered
Jackman some advice about how to carry himself off as a cattleman. "He looked
like a yuppie when I first saw him," said the Normanby station ringer, 58. "He
needed to toughen up a bit."
Veteran actor Brown said he was relishing his "dark" role as a powerful cattle baron. "I like playing a bad bastard," he said. The supporting cast of Australia reads like a who's who of veteran Australian actors. There's Brown, Jack Thompson, David Wenham and Bill Hunter, John Jarratt and Arthur Dignam, Bruce Spence and Barry Otto. Top indigenous actors feature, too, with David Gulpilil and son Jamie, as well as David Ngoombujarra in the period film set in the Northern Territory during World War II. A long time ambassador for Australian film, Brown believes this project may be the next big thing for the local industry. "There are no guarantees with movies," Brown said on radio. "But this might just nail it on the head and thrill a lot of people."
---
New addition to set
Townsville Bulletin, 26 May 2007
Another addition to the Australia set is being constructed on Bowen's foreshore.
A church and schoolyard is being erected on Quay St, a fair distance from the
rest of the set. Bowen local Graeme Beverly has an earthmoving business and is
helping build the addition. "What happens is they have nuns come ashore from the
jetty in a row boat," Mr Beverly said. "The reason they chose this location is
because you get unobstructed 180 degree camera views of the jetty all the way
around to the church and school," he said. Mr Beverly said he didn't know
whether the A-listers would make an appearance on the set – but he did know
that, two weeks into filming, business in Bowen was booming. "Nothing is being
done in halves," he said.
---
Hugh's dusty cattle drive
Townsville Bulletin, 25 May 2007
The moment Bowen had been waiting for finally arrived yesterday. A herd of cattle – though not the hundreds onlookers were expecting – made its way down a section of Bowen's main street led by Hollywood heartthrob Hugh Jackman. Police and security sectioned off most of the street from the public to protect the beasts from being spooked. Led by Jackman, the cattle marched down the end of the street, well away from the hundreds of prying eyes, who had been waiting all week for the big event. After weeks of rehearsals the cattle finally got their 30 seconds of fame, performing exceptionally in front of the camera – with only a few takes before the cut was called. Some people had been waiting for the herd to appear from 6am, and at 4pm their wait was over. When the animals finally stampeded their way across the set, red dirt surrounded the actors on horseback, capturing an authentic and picturesque scene. At the other side of the set, the radiant Nicole Kidman, as Lady Sarah Ashley, awaited Hugh's arrival before the two exchanged some words with actors Bryan Brown and Ben Mendelson, who were atop Carney's balcony. Ben was dressed in an army captain's outfit while Bryan was a rugged cowboy complete with vest and a large hat and acted as though he could have been the owner of the station. Neither men seemed happy at whatever it was Nicole and Hugh were relaying to them. The dramatic scene ended in a heated argument before the two galloped off on their purposely spooked horses. The cattle scene is expected to be shot as a full run using the entire main street today or tomorrow. Rumours were flying that Nicole's husband Keith Urban arrived on set in a bid to spend some quality time with his wife before he jets off to America for the international leg of his Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy Thing tour. Urban's first show in the US is scheduled to take place in Phoenix, Arizona on June 8 and he is expected to stay in Bowen for at least the next week.
---
But there was still plenty going on in town. Bryan Brown was the star attraction on set. He downed a few beers as cameramen filmed take after take of the bad guy on Carney's balcony. Brown raised his bottle and waved to patient fans, who had been watching the scene unfold from behind the security barricade. Local extras were in the limelight as film crews shot a town scene including women walking dogs, classic cars and stockmen. A helicopter hovered directly over the set while the stars were at lunch, sending plumes of red dirt swirling up Herbert St. The chopper was supposed to be used to film a final cattle run and George St was blocked for the entire day. But locals were left lining the street for nothing as the steers were let off the hook again. A crew member finally told fans about 5pm the cattle would not be running. He blamed the fading light and said it was likely the cows would run today.
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Kidman's son stole show
Townsville Bulletin, 23 May 2007
There was no sign of Nicole Kidman yesterday but her son Connor turned a few
heads. The young Mr Cruise spent a second day horsing around on the set of his
Mum's movie, after flying back into Bowen with Nic on Monday after she took a
weekend off. Wearing a stack-hat, and proudly perched on a well-groomed
stallion, young Connor followed the other horses up Herbert St, smiling and
waving at locals and photographers to signal the end of filming. "I'm having a
great time," Connor said. The child's appearance late in the day was the
highlight of a tedious day on set. On-lookers were forced to peer through the
windows of the Grand View hotel in hope of glimpsing the stars. A helicopter
hovering above the set late in the day took aerial shots of the set. But little
has changed after the first week of filming, with the scene still depicting 1939
Darwin. However, a pewter soldier now adorns a rock statue in the centre of
town, outside the Grand View Hotel, a symbol of the film's progression toward
re-enacting World War II.
On set yesterday, the dust was flying as Hugh
Jackman sent herds of heifers through their paces. The strapping star spent a
second day in the saddle cracking the whip. But dozens of fans barely got a
glimpse of the main man, with filming taking place well back from the renowned
viewing platform at the Grand View Hotel. Massive propeller fans were used to
blow up tonnes of dust that had been dumped on the street, to create the
illusion of stampeding cattle. But the swirling dust created a smoke screen,
through which the stars of the movie were barely visible.
---
Movie sheds light on first ever attack
The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 May 2007
It's being billed as Australia's biggest ever movie, but Baz Luhrmann's
"Australia" may also shed new light on an often forgotten episode in Australian
history. The outback blockbuster will climax with Japan's bombing of Darwin 65
years ago - Australia's first attack on home soil. "It draws attention to a lot
of people about what happened up here during war time and the heritage of World
War II we have here," said Brian O'Gallager, from the Northern Territory chief
minister's department of major projects. At least 243 people were killed and
hundreds more injured in Darwin during Japanese bombing raids on February 19,
1942. The first 40-minute raid badly damaged the town, demolishing eight ships
including the destroyer USS Peary with the loss of 91 seamen, and all but one of
Darwin's warplanes. The
destruction will form the backdrop for the final scenes of the film, when
Hollywood superstar Nicole Kidman wanders Darwin wharf after driving 2,000
cattle across the Top End. "There is action
aplenty," said Bazmark location manager Phillip Roope. "It's an epic, that's all
I can say."
Australia centres on an English aristocrat, played by Kidman, who becomes the proprietor of a cattle station before World War II. She enlists the help of a "rough-hewn" drover, played by Hugh Jackman, in a fight against cattle barons who plot to take over her land. The plot also involves a young Aboriginal child who is rescued from a mission. Speaking at a media briefing with two of the movie's producers in Darwin this week, O'Gallager said the NT government had contributed $200,000 to the project. "It will promote Darwin and the Top End to an international audience and I do think it will really boost our tourism industry, both immediately and with longer term strategic growth," he said. Construction costs, hiring machinery, accommodation and meals for the crew would also provide a welcome injection of funds to the local economy, he said. Roope said the movie had the potential to do for the Top End what Lord of the Rings did for New Zealand six years ago. "Tourism has increased 20 per cent there every year since then," he said. "If an iconic film works it has the ability to kick start something that can generate a lot of interest and a film of this size will generate a lot of international interest. "It is set in a place that is seen as very exotic to people in America and Europe."
The movie also has the potential to shed light on one of the most overlooked incidents in Australian history. This year Darwin commemorated the 65th anniversary of the bombing. But while it was a big affair in the Top End, the anniversary of the Japanese raids rated only a passing mention elsewhere in Australia. Despite this, the producers believe it will soon become part of the national consciousness, after moviegoers are treated to a visual account of the first time bombs fell on Australia. Roope said the movie - describing it as "Gone With The Wind meets Out Of Africa" - was the largest ever attempted by an Australian director with an Australian production company. It is expected to hit the big screen late next year. "This is the biggest Australian film ever, the amount of equipment, the scope of the film, the locations ... it's something that Australia has never attempted before," Roope said. "The north of Australia is a new and exciting frontier and one of the last in the world," Roope said of the film, which is expected to cost $US100 million ($A122.2 million).
Filming will start at
Darwin's Stokes Hill Wharf on July 2 to 5, when Kidman is shot arriving in
Australia from England in a Qantas flying boat. It will resume on July 10 and
11, after the real life working wharf is made to look as it would have a couple
of hours after the bombing occurred. Stokes Hill Wharf will remain open for
business throughout the filming. "At the moment we are just starting a bit of
the construction process. We're just dressing the edge of the wharf so that from
water level it looks like things are going on in a wharf as they would have in
1939," Roope said.
The production company is looking for 300 extras to fill the five to 10 minutes
of screen time expected to be included from the wharf filming in the final
movie. "The ethnic mix that was Darwin then and Darwin now," Roope said. "Baz is
interested in doing things in the real place. The story was conceived up here
and he has always, ever since his first trip to the wharf, seen it as a really
important part of the story." Filming has already started in the north
Queensland coastal town of Bowen, which will portray 1930s Darwin. Luhrmann -
whose hits include Moulin Rouge, Romeo And Juliet and Strictly Ballroom - also
plans to shoot in Western Australia's unique Kimberley region near Kununurra in
late July. But the film begins and ends in Darwin, with what Roope describes as
the "mystery of the aqua waters".
---
Nic saddles up
Townsville Bulletin, 22 May 2007
Not even a raring horse can stop Nicole Kidman from getting the job done. The Australia star arrived back on set yesterday after a weekend break proving she can take on just about any role as she rode around the make-shift town with confidence. As she prepared to start filming a cattle drive along the red dusty streets perched on a dark brown mare the beautifully groomed horse became spooked making a sharp jolt in the air. But with confidence Nicole clutched the reins tight and turned the mare around to lead more than 50 head of cattle through the streets. Dressed in a more masculine look, with full knee high riding boots, the mob followed in her path as a group of stockman, including some Aboriginal women and children, jeered-up the rugged stock. It was a 10-hour wait for a shot of the star for some who rose at 6am after rumours spread across the town that the cattle droving scenes would see the cast, including Hugh Jackman, ride straight through the main street. Council workers blocked of streets throughout the town at 9pm Sunday night to prepare for the filming but the stock never took a step on the bitumen and Hugh wasn't seen. Vehicles parked in the street, including a backpacker's van, forced the crew to abandon the plan as they desperately raced to find car owners, leaving many fans disappointed. But by 4pm the Hollywood queen was showing off her riding talent within 30 metres of more than 100 fans who raced with the paparazzi to get the shot.
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Fans seeing double
Townsville Bulletin, 19 May 2007
There were lights and cameras but little action during day light hours in Bowen yesterday as rumours spread Nicole and Hugh had skipped town for the day. Filming wasn't kicking off until darkness fell to shoot at the replica Pearl Cinema. But that didn't deter tourists and locals from turning up to the set of Australia before 9am. Those seeking action were rewarded when the body doubles of Nicole and Hugh arrived on set and were put in the saddle. On-lookers stared in awe at the sheer beauty of the horses which were athletic and well groomed. The body doubles were fitted into safety gear before being mounted on horses and put through a training run. Jackman's double was seen clearing a three-tier-stockyard rail fence and into a cattle yard of about 50 head. Those out star-spotting may have stumbled across Aussie acting legend Bryan Brown who arrived in Bowen on Thursday. Brown took time out in the afternoon to talk to local radio about the cast and crew of Australia. He said it was the finest Australian cast that had been assembled and assured audiences they were in for a real thrill. Brown's been cast as a bad guy in Australia – a role he said he loved to play. "I like being a bad bastard," he said. There was little more action around town until the cover of darkness when massive lights supported by three cranes shone on Pearl Cinema. Cast and crew worked well into the night.
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Most a-peeling job on set
Townsville Bulletin, 19 May 2007
It may not be the most glamorous job in Baz Luhrmann's Australia, but it is
certainly the most a-peeling. Linda Granat has been employed by Bazmark Films to
help peel hundreds of fruit and vegetables for the cast and crew of the epic
Aussie film while it is being shot in Bowen. At $15 an hour, it was an offer the
21-year-old Swedish backpacker couldn't refuse. "It will definitely leave a
lasting memory of my trip to Australia," Ms Granat said. Crew walked up and down
Bowen's main street yesterday hoping to find peelers for the mystery job. While
many said yes to helping out tomorrow night, they were all clueless as to the
reason for the strange request. "I asked them why they needed so many people and
they said it was to help the cast and extras," Ms Granat said. "We still don't
know where we're needed tomorrow night. They said they would call."
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Making magic with Hugh
Daily Telegraph, 19 May 2007
She collected an Oscar for making Moulin Rouge the visual spectacular it was and
it's nice to see Catherine Martin is weaving her magic again on the set of
Australia. Very, very nice in fact. As production and costume designer on her
husband Baz Luhrman's latest flick, it's Martin who deserves the plaudits and
another Academy Award for putting Hugh Jackman in a pair of moleskins and boots.
And a tight shirt, too. No wonder his co-star Nicole Kidman is going ga-ga over
the scripted love scenes. "I hope we do more than just kiss, he's a hunk," she
said on set this week.
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Equine movie star
Townsville Bulletin, 18 May
2007
Why the long face? Perhaps it was because of day four – the longest day of filming so far on the set of Baz Luhrmann's Australia. Cast and crew endured a mammoth shoot yesterday, from early morning until 8pm. The day was a repeat of the same scenes filmed earlier this week, where Nicole Kidman as English aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashby meets Hugh Jackman as a grizzled yet buff drover for the first time Daytrippers keeping a vigilant watch for a glimpse of the stars overheard the loud fight scene at the beginning of the movie, where Kidman arrives via seaplane in Darwin and walks down the jetty to the Territory Hotel after finding no one to greet her. Jackman then falls through a window after landing a few punches in a pub brawl, landing on luggage and welcomes Kidman to Australia. Yesterday was marked as the first filming of scenes at the Pearl Cinema. While there were no more spontaneous appearances of Hollywood superstars in Bowen's main street, the crowd watching the movie being made has doubled from previous days, all hoping to grab a snapshot of the stars. Spectators were, however, awarded a quick chat and photo opportunity with the film's horse trainer, Peter Gould and his equine friend Spook. The horse proved no spook to the cameras. He was exceptionally well behaved when it came to having his photo taken with adoring fans. Mr Gould said his friend was building up a bit of a filmography. "He's doing really well," he said. "He's been in a few movies so far, such as the Great Raid, which was filmed in Queensland." For the past seven weeks Mr Gould has been training the main cast, including Kidman, Jackman and David Wenham, to ride horses while in Sydney.
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Stellar line-up at Grand
Townsville Bulletin, 18
May 2007
They don't call it the Grand View Hotel for nothing. With Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman already gracing Bowen with their presence during a surprise visit to Bowen's main street yesterday, more of Baz Luhrmann's all-star cast decided to step out on the town last night. Last night Aussie acting trio Bryan Brown, Ben Mendelson and David Wenham grabbed an after work beer at the Grand View (GV), which has a starring role in the movie itself. The hotel is the end of the line for film set visitors, whose numbers have slowly been building in the past week as tourists drop into the sleepy North Queensland town to grab a glimpse of the stars at work and at play. The GV has even dressed herself up for the show: the Federation style hotel now sports a week old beer garden.
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Baz buzz at Bowen
ABC North Queensland, 17 May 2007
North Queensland has certainly caught the "Baz Buzz". The quiet seaside town of Bowen has been transformed into Bowenwood with director Baz Luhrman and crew shooting the new movie "Australia". For the next 6 weeks, the tropical town is one of the most important film sets in the world, playing host to stars Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. Much of Bowen's famous beachfront has been taken over for the film, which is a epic love story set before and during World War Two. The streets are covered in red dust, new buildings have been erected and Bowen is now doubling as 1930s Darwin. Hundreds of locals have signed on as extras, and more are playing the role of volunteer guides who tell tourists all about the sets and shooting schedules. Residents say the movie has put the community on the international map and will be a significant boost to the economy for some time to come. And while the stars of the film have been working very hard, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman have found the time to take a break and mix with fans. The ABC's Michael Clarke was there, and took some photos and even interviewed the Hollywood actors.
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You're Kidman, is that Hugh?
Townsville Bulletin, 17 May 2007
Murphy's Law struck in Bowen yesterday. A professional photographer with a
massive telephoto lens who had staked out the set of Baz Lurhmann's Australia
all day, left for 20 minutes to answer a phone call from his boss. In that 20
minutes, the film's stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman – in period costume –
decided to go for a quick walk to say g'day to those who had taken the time out
to watch their movie being made. Meanwhile, the film's local volunteers, who had
been filling in visitors on the daily occurrences of the production, were
awarded with a chat and a photo with the stars. The Australian actors even
signed autographs. "The first thing Hugh said to me was 'thank you for being a
volunteer'," said Lorraine Maltby, one of the lucky few to have her photo taken
with the actors. "It was lovely to hear him say `g'day mate' to everyone, and
then ask them whether they wanted their photo taken. "It was just so nice to
see. Both of them (Hugh and Nicole) were so friendly and happy to be here."
Another volunteer, Cristian Lenske, had a large group shot of all the helpers
taken together with the stars. Mr Lenske, who works in his parent's newsagency,
said it was amazing to see the pair in real life. "And all of a sudden Nicole
and Hugh walked straight towards us."
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Nicole and Keith Drop in
to Bowen's Jochheim's Pies
Who Magazine, 17 May 2007
The shop honours the stars in town to shoot
Australia by creating a Hunky Jackman pie, Baz
Baguette & Nicole Petit
As the cream of Australia's film industry
converge on the small Queensland town of Bowen
to film the Baz Luhrmann epic Australia, the
locals are over the moon playing host to such
stars as Nicole Kidman, her husband Keith Urban,
Hugh Jackman and of course the director himself,
Baz Luhrmann. WHO spoke to local businesswoman
Merle Jochheim, about the buzz that's hit Bowen.
I wanted to ask you about the famous pies you
have in the shop as well as your famous
customers.
We want them all to be able to come and go
without all the photographers following, and
it's common knowledge now (we weren't letting
on) but both Nicole and Keith popped in for a
cup of coffee.
When was that?
Yesterday, just pulled up and came in.
Did they buy any of your pies?
No, Nicole's more into healthy food, which we
thought. We actually named some pies after Hugh
Jackman. A Hunky Jackman pie. We've got chunky
crossed out and we've got a Hunky Jackman Pie,
which is just hunky, chunky meat. And we've got
a Baz Baguette with Baz written in flour on the
baguette. And then we've got a Nicole Petit
biscuit, which she loved. She thinks that's
lovely. She tried one. And we've got the Kid
Mango Cheesecake. It's rather like her, it's
creamy, she has the most beautiful complexion.
Her skin is just beautiful. We're thrilled that
they're living in Bowen and we're thrilled that
they can come and go and we hope they can do
this more often. They've got such long days,
they're there from six in the morning to six in
the afternoon. Very long days. It's beautiful
weather, a little bit
warm, but it's beautiful and everything's
looking so gorgeous.
Do you think Nicole and Keith came into the
shop because they had heard about your celebrity
pies and biscuits?
They probably heard about us because we kind of
met Baz Luhrmann when he was looking for a site
for the movie. I didn't know who he was and I
just gave him a talk and told him how wonderful
the town was and he really had a nice feeling
about the town. He didn't tell anybody he was in