Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush to topline family film “Storm Boy”

PanARMENIAN.Net - Oscar-winning actor Geoffrey Rush and “Suicide Squad” star Jai Courtney will head the cast of family film “Storm Boy” for Australian production company Ambience Entertainment, Ambience announced Thursday, May 11, according to Variety.

The film is a contemporary re-telling of a 1976 Australian family classic described as a “heartwarming tale about unusual friendship and unconditional love.” It is based on a 1964 novel by Australian author Colin Thiele.

Rush, who won an Academy Award as best actor for his role in 1996’s “Shine” and has been nominated three more times, most recently as supporting actor for 2010’s “The King’s Speech,” will play the adult version of the protagonist, who recounts his childhood adventures to his troubled teenage granddaughter in an effort to stop her making the same mistakes he made.

Courtney is set to play the younger version of the protagonist’s protective father, who removes himself and his son from society following the untimely death of his wife and daughter to live on a remote isolated coastline of Australia. Courtney was recently seen in Warner Bros. blockbuster “Suicide Squad,” and will next be seen in World War II drama “The Exception,” opposite Lily James and Christopher Plummer.

“Storm Boy” will be directed by Shawn Seet from an adaptation by Justin Monjo, and will feature a combination of live action and 3-D CGI animation. It is scheduled to begin shooting in July across South Australia.

Michael Boughen and Matthew Street will produce the film for Ambience. It is co-financed by Screen Australia, the South Australian Film Corp., the U.K.’s Piccadilly Pictures and Singapore’s Aurora Global Media Capital and Salt Media & Entertainment.

Studiocanal will release the film in Australia and New Zealand in 2018. Kathy Morgan International is handling international sales.