Julia Roberts and Sean Penn coming to Sydney to film Gaslit with Joel and Nash Edgerton

Oscar winner Julia Roberts is set to join the growing influx of Hollywood A-listers to Australia’s relatively COVID-free shores to begin shooting a new TV series produced by Aussie brothers Joel and Nash Edgerton.

One of the world’s most revered and adored actresses is heading our way.

Oscar winner Julia Roberts is set to join the growing influx of Hollywood A-listers to Australia’s relatively COVID-free shores, with the superstar set to begin shooting a new TV series produced by Aussie brothers Joel and Nash Edgerton.

Megastar Julia Roberts is the latest Hollywood celebrity to be heading Down Under, to film a TV project. Picture: Jason Merritt/Getty

It’s understood Roberts will arrive in Sydney in the coming weeks to begin filming Gaslit — a “taut political thriller” set in Washington during the infamous Watergate scandal of 1972.

She is expected to be joined by another Hollywood heavyweight, Sean Penn, who will star alongside the Pretty Woman actress, while controversial US actor Armie Hammer remains in doubt despite being linked to the series last year.

Joel Edgerton will also play a role in the series, which he will produce and direct with brother Nash. Picture: Nikki Short

Joel Edgerton will also star in the series. He and his brother will also act as directors and executive producers on the show.

Roberts will star as Martha Mitchell — wife of Richard Nixon’s attorney-general John Mitchell — a celebrity Arkansan socialite “who has a big personality and an even bigger mouth”, according to a synopsis of the series released last year.

Penn plays her husband John Mitchell, while Edgerton will play G. Gordon Liddy, Korean War veteran, former FBI agent and chief operative of Nixon’s “Plumbers” unit, tasked with plugging embarrassing leaks in the wake of the Pentagon Papers.

Sean Penn is also attached to the project. Picture: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

Gaslit is to be the latest in a tsunami of film and TV productions to hit our shores as COVID continues its demolition of the international film production industry.

It’s understood Sydney’s Fox Studios has been forced to hang out the “No Vacancy” sign, with the sprawling film studio now officially booked out for the next two years as US and UK productions continue to hammer Oz.

In what is believed to be a first since the Moore Park facility was built in 1998, every one of its nine sound studios are at capacity and no new bookings are available until mid-2023.

And, as a studio worker tells Confidential, the backlog could extend well into the next five years as COVID-hit productions abroad continue their push to relocate to Australia.

“It’s like a film production gold rush,” is how one set designer put it.

“Now is a very good time to be working in this industry in Australia and we’re grateful because it certainly hasn’t always been that way.”