Producers reveal plans for new film ‘Last Man Standing’ about Brisbane speed skater Steven Bradbury

A feature film about Steven Bradbury has finally been given the go-ahead after nine failed attempts, but the opportunity to play the Brisbane speed skater is proving hard to cast.

Brisbane’s Steven Bradbury (L) famously won gold in the men's 1000m short track finals at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games in 2002 when his opponents fell at the last corner.

A feature film about Steven Bradbury has been given the go-ahead and will aim to flip the script on the Brisbane speed skater’s famous Winter Olympics win.

Producers John and Michael Schwarz, prolific screenwriter Stuart Beattie and director Kriv Stenders — the same team behind upcoming Australian film Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan — are on board for Last Man Standing, which this month secured development funding from Screen Australia.

It was after finishing the Vietnam War film in Queensland last year that John began looking for a more uplifting and humorous story, and thought of Bradbury, who in 2002 became the first Australian to win a Winter Olympics gold medal when all of his opponents crashed in a last corner pileup in the 1000m speed skating final.

Steven Bradbury’s surprise gold medal win at the 2002 Winter Olympics will be immortalised in a new film called Last Man Standing. Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images

“I was actually quite shocked by how much I didn’t know about the story. Everyone knows the expression ‘Doing a Bradbury’ which is a fluke, but he didn’t do a Bradbury,” John said.

“Steve went to four Olympics, he competed as an elite athlete for 14 years, he had these injuries where he almost died.

“It’s always great when you can find a story that goes against everyone’s perception. As filmmakers we are always looking for those stories and they are very rare to find. Hopefully it’ll totally flip everyone’s perception of what ‘doing a Bradbury’ is.”

Bradbury, 45, had been approached by nine different producers in the past hoping to commission a film based on his life, but all had fallen flat.

READ MORE: Australia’s most famous Winter Olympian Stephen Bradbury returns to where he laid foundations for an extraordinary career

The Schwarz brothers screened Bradbury a rough cut of Danger Close, which will be released on August 8, in a bid to convince him that they could do justice to an Australian story.

Bradbury, with his wife Amanda, was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2013.

Bradbury, who will be actively involved in the production, is now travelling with Beattie, along with his friends, family and team members, so the screenwriter can get to know the characters he is scripting.

The producers are also in discussions with Bradbury about who could play him in the film.

“We can’t just hire a pretty face, we need to find someone who can be athletic and yet have that charm, the larrikin aspect to Steve. It’s going to be a really fun role,” Michael said.

John said they had already received “interest from American studios to release it there if we get it right”.

The film could go into production by the end of this year or the start of 2020, with the intention to film in Queensland, similarly to Danger Close.

“We’d love to come back to Queensland for this. We had a great time working there and it makes sense considering that Steve is a Brisbane boy and (Screen Queensland boss) Tracey Vieira is a huge supporter of ours. She’s really aware of this project,” Michael said.