Hollywood comes to Kingaroy

Filming for a new Australian film based on the Battle of Long Tan will begin end of April in Kingaroy.

FILM STAR: Travis Fimmel, star of Vikings, will travel to Kingaroy to shoot a new movie. Picture: Bernard Walsh

KINGAROY has been chosen as the filming location for a major new Hollywood film.

Filming for a new Australian film based on the Battle of Long Tan will begin at the end of April in Kingaroy.

The film has been provisionally titled Danger Close.

Award-winning Australian Martin Walsh is set to produce the film. Pre-production will start in March.

The film will feature actor Travis Fimmel, known for his role in Vikings.

It is set in Vietnam and is based on the true story of young men facing the strange, contradictory and brutal truths of war.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Twitter that Kingaroy would be one of the major filming locations.

"I've just announced that Danger Close - set in Vietnam and about the Battle of Long Tan - will be filmed in Queensland this year. Kingaroy and Nerang will be the key filming locations and Aussie Travis Fimmel will feature,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk said the Queensland Government was proud to support the production.

Filming is set to start around Anzac Day.

"As Queenslanders pause to reflect on the sacrifices of our soldiers over the past century, a film crew will be capturing their very personal stories of courage, honour, mateship and loss,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

"I was moved to hear that (film producer) Martin (Walsh), himself a former Australian Special Forces commando, is planning a major Anzac Day event during the shoot, bringing Long Tan veterans, cast, crew and locals together for a special memorial service.”

Danger Close's script was written by Australian screenwriter and director Stuart Beattie.

He wrote Pirates of Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Collateral and Australia. He wrote and directed Tomorrow, When the War Began and I, Frankenstein.

Ms Palaszczuk said production of Danger Close would employ an estimated 120 full-time Queensland crew members, offer 30 principal cast and bit-part roles, and further strengthen Queensland's position as a serious movie-making destination.

"We are seeing a growing number of screen productions being filmed in Queensland, and our state is forging many exciting partnerships with leading studios,” Ms Palaszczuk said.