L to R: Producer Al Corley, director Mark Vanselow, producer Bart Rosenblatt, star Liam Neeson, Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brooks, Michaela Settle MP, VicScreen CEO Caroline Pitcher and Steve McGhie MP on the set of The Mongoose at Bacchus Marsh Aerodrome. Photo by Sarah Enticknap.
Liam Neeson has hit the road in Victoria to make his third film in the state in four years.
Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brooks met the Taken and Schindler's List star on the set of the action-thriller The Mongoose at Bacchus Marsh Aerodrome, where Neeson and co-star Ving Rhames are filming a helicopter action sequence.
Currently filming across Victoria, The Mongoose stars Neeson as Ryan "Fang" Flanagan, a war hero who, accused of a crime he didn't commit and with nothing to lose, leads police on an epic televised cross-country car chase from Kentucky to the American Southwest. Helped by members of his former Special Forces Army battalion he is closely monitored by a fascinated public cheering for his safe getaway.
The film boasts a stellar international cast including Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei (In the Bedroom; The Wrestler; Spider-Man: No Way Home), Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part 1; Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning; The Wild Robot; The Instigators) and Michael Chiklis (Fantastic Four; Winning Time; The Shield.)
They are supported by a terrific local cast including Ryan Morgan (A Savage Christmas), Maurice Meredith (High Potential), Toby Truslove (La Brea), Aisha Aidara (A Christmas Carol), Zac Taylor, Yesse Spence (Utopia), Mario Setyana (Spooky Files), Geoff Paine (Plum), Elias Anton (Of An Age), Brett Tucker (upcoming The Residence), Hamish Michael (The Twelve), Geoff Morell (Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power) and Louisa Mignone (The Twelve).
The production – which was attracted to Victoria through VicScreen's Victorian Screen Rebate – is creating 453 jobs for Victorian screen workers, engaging 150 local businesses including aerial cinematography by world class drone camera specialists Melbourne's own XM2.
The film will inject more than $19 million into the Victorian economy, with an estimated $2 million being spent in regional Victorian communities.
The production is based out of the Melbourne Screen Hub in Footscray and is being filmed on location in Victoria including Little River, Moorabbin, Bangholme, Bacchus Marsh, Castlemaine, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Kensington and along the Calder Freeway between Malmsbury and Harcourt.
On screen, Victoria's diverse and extraordinary locations will double for Kentucky, Arkansas and even the Gulf of Mexico in Texas.
The Mongoose is directed by veteran stunt professional Mark Vanselow, whose career as an action sequence director, includes two Screen Actors Guild award nominations for best stunt ensemble (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull).
The project reunites Neeson with Code Entertainment, producers of both Ice Road and Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky. The script is written by Thompson Evans (Reckoning). Code Entertainment's Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt, and Eugene Musso will produce. Jonathan Dana will executive produce with Code's Rich Freeman along with Steven Shapiro and Liz and Ken Whitney of Jupiter Peak Productions. Lisa Wilson and Craig Chapman of The Solution Entertainment Group will also executive produce.
More than 1,300 jobs were created when Neeson filmed Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky (2023) and Blacklight (2020) in Victoria, generating more than $55 million in economic value for the state.
The Mongoose was attracted to Victoria through VicScreen's Victorian Screen Rebate; and also received support from the Federal Government's Location Offset.
Victorian Minister for Creative Industries, Minister Brooks said, "We're thrilled to welcome Liam Neeson and the team back to Victoria to make yet another action-packed movie that will create hundreds of local jobs, engage local businesses and generate millions for our economy."
"The Mongoose is the first of a strong pipeline of local and international productions that will fuel our screen industry in 2025. We're excited to see Victoria on the global stage once again, and we thank the local communities across Victoria who are hosting this major production in their home towns."
VicScreen CEO Caroline Pitcher said, "Since the inception of Victoria's Screen Industry Strategy in 2021 we have seen exceptional economic growth, creative success and cultural value delivered to Victoria. This performance is derived from setting a bold vision and working as a united industry to become a global powerhouse for screen.
"The strengths of Victoria's screen industry are no secret to Liam Neeson, Al Corley and Bart Rosenblatt, they love Victoria. They have embraced our exceptional film-making talents and our spirit of innovation which is benefiting Victorian small businesses and screen workers across the state."
Liam Neeson said, "I'm honoured to be back in Victoria working on my latest film The Mongoose with one of the best crews, again, that I have ever worked with in over 100 movies."
Producers Al Corley and Bart Rosenblatt said, "We are so fortunate to be able to make another picture with the extraordinary Liam Neeson and the talented Mark Vanselow. Shooting in Victoria again is fantastic – Melbourne is a great city to shoot in - the local crews and the technical capabilities of the virtual stages are terrific."
