Vietnam War movie to film in Australia

Provisionally titled Danger Close, the movie will chart the experiences of Australian soldiers who fought hostile Vietnamese forces at the Battle of Long Tan in 1966.

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

“While in the United States on a trade and investment mission this week I will be meeting with studio heads at Twentieth Century Fox Film, Warner Brothers, Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney to discuss new projects and partnerships.

“Attracting major productions like Danger Close to Queensland supports local jobs and showcases Queensland to the world, and that is the impetus behind Screen Queensland’s initial AU$30m four-year funding injection in our screen industry.”

Queensland is an easy stand-in for Vietnam and also doubled for the Solomon Islands and Japan’s Pacific islands in major 2010 war drama The Pacific (pictured below), which recreated the conflict between American and Japanese forces during the Second World War.

Vietnam is building its global production profile and monster movie Kong: Skull Island recently became the biggest international movie to shoot in the south-east Asian country. Producers are frequently impressed by the scenery, but filmmaking infrastructure is still lacking.

In announcing Danger Close for Queensland, Palaszczuk also reiterated a longstanding call for the Australian federal government to increase the country’s location offset, which is one of Australia’s key filming incentives for international producers.

The offset has stood at 16.5% for the past few years, but many in the production industry want to see it raised closer to 30% to help boost the country’s global competitiveness.

“A bi-partisan Commonwealth Parliament Committee recommended this late last year,” says Palaszczuk of the proposed offset increase.

“I have written to the prime minister - now is the time to act or we will not get the films and the jobs that Queensland deserves.”

Another of Queensland’s major international appeals is Village Roadshow Studios that now offers a 43,000-sq-ft sound stage among its production resources.

See KFTV's production guide for more on filming in Australia.

Landscape images: FreeImages.com/Jenny Rollo/Roger Buser. The Pacific image: David James/HBO.