Filming for the new Orlando Bloom and Pete Davidson film “Wizards!” is wrapping up in Far North Queensland.
The feature-length Australian and US comedy has been filming in Cairns for five weeks, with the film’s producer Liz Watts telling The Cairns Post Wednesday night’s scenes in the city centre were among the last to be shot.
“Tonight is what we call a joiner scene… we’ve got our three characters walking down the street,” Watts said. “We finish tomorrow, a lot of the crew will leave by the weekend.”
The street remained open to public spectators and foot traffic as long as they weren’t in view of the cameras, with many locals clamouring for a final glimpse of the film’s Hollywood stars. Wednesday night’s scenes included shots at local store Makin’ Whoopee, which was reinvented into a Vietnamese restaurant for the film.
Watts revealed the cast and crew had enjoyed meeting locals while filming. “It’s been great shooting here. I think it’s unique and it’s so pristine,” she said. “We’ve met some incredible people. Yesterday, I met a group of women from Cape York Girls Academy, they came and visited the set.
“The work they’re doing with young Indigenous women is amazing. “We had a lot of left over set dressing from the scene, like bean bags, so we gave it to them.”
Cairns councillor Amy Eden told The Cairns Post she had received a message from an extra on set praising the production for taking care of locals. “The Covid safety was also first rate. Everyone had the opportunity to be close to the camera if they wanted to be,” the message read. “I was hugely impressed, very respectful, well organised, patient and friendly team.”
The movie is expected to inject $14.7 million into the state economy with 100 jobs for Queensland cast and around 300 opportunities for extras, who were each paid $150 per day.
The screenplay, written by David Michôd (“Animal Kingdom”, “The King”) and based on a story by Michôd and Joel Edgerton (“The Gift”, “Boy Erased”, “The King”), follows the comical exploits of two hapless beach bar operators (Pete Davidson and Franz Rogowski) who run into trouble when they stumble across stolen loot.
Produced by Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner of Brad Pitt’s company Plan B Entertainment (“12 Years a Slave”, “World War Z”, “Moonlight”) and Watts, of Sydney-based See-Saw Films (“Foe”, “The Power of the Dog”, “Lion”, “The King’s Speech”), “Wizards!” is expected to be released next year.
