Written by on Feb 21, 2011. Posted in On Location

Baz Luhrmann and Leonardo DiCaprio to film Great Gatsby on location in Australia

New York will be re-created at Fox Studios in Sydney and on location throughout New South Wales for Baz Luhrmann’s big-budget version of The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan.

It’s clearly great news for New South Wales, especially as the strength of the Australian dollar is thought to have played a part in alienating big overseas productions recently. The state has a fund of nearly USD20 million to attract major overseas projects but the Government remains tight-lipped over exactly how much support has been granted in this case.

Premier Kristina Keneally said: “This comes at a good time for the film industry. Australia was thought to be losing international filmmaking due to the strong Aussie dollar - put simply, this is a big win."

Premier Keneally added: What better endorsement of our state’s world-class filmmaking capabilities - we’ve won the right to produce this iconic New York story ahead of New York itself.

The production is expected to bring USD118 million into the New South Wales economy. Around 275 crew will be employed during the next few months of pre-production and more than 400 cast and crew will be involved with the actual shoot, currently scheduled for August 2011.