thedrifter
06-21-07, 07:04 AM
Second WWII series for HBO <br />
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Former "24" co-star James Badge Dale, Val Lauren and Joe Mazzello will play the three Marines at the center of HBO's 10-hour saga "The Pacific," according to the...
thedrifter
06-21-07, 07:30 AM
Thursday June 21, 03:48 PM
Spielberg to film war series in Mossman
A north Queensland council has given the green light for Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks to film their next major war epic in its picturesque surrounds.
Filming on the $140 million World War II mini-series, The Pacific, will begin next month in Mossman, west of Port Douglas, after the Douglas Shire Council on Wednesday gave its final approval to the project.
Produced by the Hollywood heavyweight pairing of Spielberg and Hanks, and made by the same team behind the blockbuster 2001 mini-series Band of Brothers, The Pacific will tell the story of three US Marines during World War II.
Parts of the series will also be filmed in Melbourne and regional Victoria, with Melbourne Central City Studios the main production site.
Filming in Queensland is expected to continue until at least December and may return to the area early next year, Douglas Shire deputy mayor David Egan said on Thursday.
"They have already started rocking in here to set up some of their infrastructure," Mr Egan said.
About 400 crew members will live in Mossman, a town of 2,500, during the height of filming.
The focus of the project will be two sites - a cane farm two kilometres outside of Mossman, and the coastal location of Rocky Point, 20 minutes north of Port Douglas.
The cane farm also hosted filming for the 1998 World War II film The Thin Red Line.
Mr Egan expects a major economic boost to the Port Douglas region as a result of the filming.
"I think it's going to be astronomical in relation to accommodation and food," he said.
"The whole shire will get a spin-off from this one."
Before giving approval to the project, councillors and community members asked for assurances that local roads would be upgraded by the production crew and noise kept to a minimum.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also given its approval to the production company's measures to protect the local environment, Mr Egan said.
While the stars of the series are yet to be publicly announced, Mr Egan expects Hanks, a previous visitor to north Queensland, to drop in at some stage of filming.
"I can't see him missing out on being here," Mr Egan said.
The go-ahead for The Pacific adds to Queensland's burgeoning film industry, with filming set to begin just after work on Baz Luhrmann's outback epic Australia in the north Queensland town of Bowen shifts to Darwin.
Ellie