Amber Heard returned to Gold Coast minus dogs to film Aquaman

TWO years after the Pistol and Boo saga on the Gold Coast dogged Amber Heard, she returned to the scene of the crime to film Aquaman. And this time, the dogs stayed home.

TWO years after the Pistol and Boo saga on the Gold Coast dogged Amber Heard, the Hollywood starlet returned to the scene of the crime to film Aquaman.

And this time, the dogs stayed home.

Amber Heard as Mera in Aquaman, filmed on the Gold Coast. Photo: Supplied

“Not a dog in sight,” producer Peter Safran said on the Aquaman set last July, a visit which can now be made public. “You won’t even catch Amber with a hot dog.”

Aquaman – the first headline outing for Jason Momoa’s underwater hero glimpsed in DC’s Batman v Superman and Justice League – took over the Gold Coast’s Village Roadshow Studios from May to October last year.

Heard plays Mera, Aquaman’s ally and the Queen of Atlantis.

Nicole Kidman and Temuera Morrison co-star in the blockbuster, which will hit cinemas on December 13.

The production marked the first time Australian director James Wan, co-creator of horror franchise Saw, had made a film at home.

“I finally have the ability to say, ‘I want to shoot the film where I want to shoot the film’,” Wan said. “I’ve been wanting to shoot a film back here for a while, just to be around friends and family. And geez, the crew here are great. They’re definitely at the level of what I’m used to back in Hollywood.”

Arthur Curry played by Jason Momoa and Mera (Amber Heard) in a scene from Aquaman.

Safran explained that as Wan was hoping to make a “blue sky” movie – a wish-fulfilment adventure in the vein of Indiana Jones – Australia was the perfect location.

“It seemed like Australia embodied that with the weather and the beaches and its general vibe. The truth is, I don’t think we ever considered anywhere else; it just felt right.”

For Game of Thrones star Momoa, the Aquaman shoot was something of a homecoming. Years before he married Lisa Bonet, the avid rock climber lived in Australia with his then fiancee, McLeod’s Daughters actor Simmone Mackinnon.

“I used to live down in Adelaide and I travelled all over. I used to have a troop carrier and a bluey, a blue heeler, and we went all the way from Adelaide to Alice Springs, then all the way across to Coffs Harbour, climbed in the Grampians three times, travelled over to Perth … the only thing I haven’t done is Darwin.” He may yet be back to tick the Top End off his list. “I want to shoot more movies here,” Momoa said.