Chris Hemsworth head to Qld to film blockbuster for Netflix
He worked magic as Thor in the Marvel movies and now Chris Hemsworth is set to do the same for the state’s screen industry, with cameras tipped to roll in Queensland on a new Netflix film as early as November.
Confidential
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HOLLYWOOD heart-throb Chris Hemsworth is heading back to Queensland to film a blockbuster for Netflix after inking a four-movie deal with the global video streaming giant.
In a major coup for the state’s screen industry, The Sunday Mail understands Netflix will shift production of its feature film Spiderhead to Queensland, with cameras tipped to roll as early as November.
Hemsworth will star in the drama alongside American actor Miles Teller, of the Oscar-winning film Whiplash, with Top Gun: Maverick’s Joseph Kosinski on board to direct.
Hemsworth is believed to be agitating for the other three films in the deal to also be made Down Under. If he gets his way, it will be a massive boost for jobs in a sector that has been savaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Netflix representatives refused to comment on the deal with the Thor star but it is understood two of the movies will be sequels to this year’s blockbuster Extraction, which is the streaming service’s most successful original movie to date with more than 99 million views in the first four weeks alone.
Sci-fi thriller Spiderhead, which is the first movie in the deal, is based on George Saunders’ short story Escape from Spiderhead, which was published in The New Yorker in 2010 and follows convicts in the near future who can volunteer as medical subjects in the hope of shortening their sentences.
It is understood Hemsworth, 37, will play Abnesti, the brilliant visionary who runs the facility and experiments on inmates, including Teller’s character Jeff, with emotion-altering drugs.
It was written for screen by Zombieland and Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick while producers Eric Newman (Narcos) and Tommy Harper (Star Wars The Force Awakens, Top Gun: Maverick) are also on board.
Casting calls for the additional roles in the film were held last week via “self tapes”, with international and interstate actors told they would need to be available to quarantine in Queensland, pending State Government restrictions, from early November and remain within the state for the duration of the shoot.
Spiderhead will mark Hemsworth’s first time working in Queensland since he filmed the hugely successful Thor: Ragnarok in 2016.
It was announced last week that Queensland will throw open its borders to five NSW shires, including Byron Bay, next weekend, meaning Hemsworth would likely be able to bypass quarantine and freely travel to and from Queensland during the production.
Spiderhead was originally reported to be filming in the US in March before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the global film industry and it was subsequently picked up by Queensland.
Netflix has an existing relationship with the state, having previously filmed Australia’s first Netflix original series, Tidelands – starring Hemsworth’s wife Elsa Pataky – in Brisbane as well as the new romantic comedy, Romance on the Menu.
It comes amid a boom for Queensland’s screen industry, which is benefiting from the low COVID-19 infection rate, with three NBC TV series – Young Rock with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Joe Exotic starring Emmy-winner Kate McKinnon, and drama series Irreverent – set to film at Brisbane’s Screen Queensland Studios over the next 18 months.
The NBCUniversal deal was secured through the Federal Government’s $400m Location Incentive program, which aims to lure a pipeline of international productions over the next seven years.
Originally published as Chris Hemsworth head to Qld to film blockbuster for Netflix