Boy Swallows Universe Netflix series to be shot in Brisbane

Best-selling novel Boy Swallows Universe will be brought to life in a high-profile Netflix series set to film in suburban Brisbane.

The Netflix adaptation of hit homegrown novel Boy Swallows Universe will be shot in Brisbane, in another production coup for the city.

The anticipated eight-part series, from a high-profile team of executive producers including actor and director Joel Edgerton, will be filmed across the city, where the best-selling Trent Dalton story is set, for five months from August.

Supported by the Queensland Government via Screen Queensland’s Production Attraction Strategy, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it was a “uniquely Brisbane production” that would inject $33 million into the Queensland economy, creating around 185 jobs for cast and crew and 2500 extras.

Trent Dalton at Brisbane’s City Hall as his novel Boy Swallows Universe is set to be brought to life in a Netflix series filmed in Brisbane. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“Brisbane-based author Trent Dalton captivated the world with his brutal yet magical tale set in 1980s Brisbane among iconic local landmarks such as Boggo Road Gaol and Brisbane City Hall’s clock tower,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

Inspired by the Walkley Award-winning journalist’s own upbringing in the city, Boy Swallows Universe is a coming-of-age story about working-class Brisbane teenager and budding reporter Eli Bell.

It became the fastest-selling Australian debut novel ever after it was first published in 2018 and the screen rights were quickly bought by a consortium of producers including Edgerton.

The Netflix series was announced in March in continued success for Dalton, following the Queensland Theatre stage adaptation of the story last year.

Joel Edgerton, pictured at a special screening of Thirteen Lives in London on July 18, is an executive producer on Boy Swallows Universe. Picture: Matrix Pictures

“This adaptation to the screen couldn’t happen anywhere else, and I am proud to be part of this exciting adventure on my home turf,” said Dalton, who will also serve as executive producer.

“Boy Swallows Universe is my very deep and personal love letter to my city of Brisbane.

“I’m so incredibly honoured to know the Queensland Government and Screen Queensland is helping us mail that letter around the world.”

The Netflix series was adapted by Master and Commander and Happy Feet screenwriter John Collee, while executive producers also include Troy Lum and Andrew Mason, of Sydney-based Brouhaha Entertainment, Chapter One’s Sophie Gardiner, and Anonymous Content’s Kohansky-Roberts.

The cast for the series is yet to be announced.

The Brisbane Festival premiered an anticipated stage production of Trent Dalton’s Boy Swallows Universe in September 2021.

While Screen Queensland Studios has hosted international series such as Young Rock and Joe vs Carole, chief executive Kylie Munnich said Boy Swallows Universe was significant for the local industry in that it is also set in Brisbane.

She anticipated “seeing the words of this blockbuster novel come to life on screen featuring some of this city’s quintessential suburban locations”.

Netflix ANZ director of content Que Minh Luu added: “Brisbane is such a key character in Boy Swallows Universe that Queensland was always the first-choice location for us to bring to life on screen the evocative and uniquely Australian universe that Trent created.”

The production is seeking inquiries from local crew, with more information available on Screen Queensland’s website.