Eric Bana to star in feature adaptation of Jane Harper’s best-selling novel The Dry

Eric Bana is set to star in his first Australian movie in over a decade for the film version of Jane Harper’s hit novel The Dry, a story he says was “born to be on the big screen”.

Eric Bana. Picture: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for New York Magazine

Homegrown actor Eric Bana is set to star in his first Australian movie in over a decade for a fellow Aussie’s best-selling book, in a story he says was “born to be on the big screen”.

Former Herald Sun journalist and acclaimed author Jane Harper’s The Dry will be brought to the big screen, and is slated to be directed by famed Australian producer Robert Connolly, who also co-wrote the script with Aussie script writer Harry Cripps.

Bana, 50, who is based in Melbourne but predominantly works out of the US, hasn’t starred in an Australian film since the 2007 movie Romulus, My Father.

LA-based Australian producer Bruna Papandrea’s company Made Up Pictures will produce the film while Bana and Connolly have signed on as executive producers.

Bana, who admits this is a passion project of his, says he pushed Connolly over the line when the pair discussed possibly making the movie.

Eric Bana attends the Vulture Festival presented by AT&T at Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Picture: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for New York Magazine

“I let him know I’d read the book and loved it, and we just looked at each other and said, ‘Should we do this?’,” he told Fairfax.

“It was a very funny moment, just a lucky set of circumstances that this group of people were all able to pull together very quickly. It had a sense of momentum, and that felt very exciting.”

The Dry follows the story of policeman Aaron Falk (Bana) who makes his way back to the country town of Kiewarra, where he grew up, to investigate an eerie murder-suicide, at an already tense time as the town battles a drought, bushfires and the depression.

“It was born to be on the big screen,” Bana said.

“There’s an incredible cinematic opportunity, in terms of seeing a version of country Australia that we haven’t seen before.”

Author Jane Harper. Picture: Stuart McEvoy for The Australian

The Dry book cover, by Jane Harper.

“We’re very familiar with outback starkness, but there’s a chance to do something a bit different, that feels a bit more dangerous.

“The threat of bushfire, the threat that comes from drought and dead foliage — I’m a dirt bike rider so I associate lushness with danger, lots of foliage with fuel, potential for danger.

“That’s something inherent in the book and it will be important for us. And it’s just a wonderful thriller, but it feels really emotional too.”