Netflix series 'Boy Swallows' to film in Brisbane

The fantasy drama "Boy Swallows," which is set in Australia, will begin filming in Brisbane, Queensland, the following month. Boy Swallows Universe, a book by Trent Dalton that has sold very well, is being adapted into a television series by Brouhaha Entertainment for Netflix.

According to Variety, as reported by local screen agency Screen Queensland, "Boy Swallows Universe" follows working-class Brisbane kid Eli Bell through a fast-paced tale involving drug addiction, ex-cons, poverty, violence, and the discovery of hope through the strength of love."

Dalton said that the story involves a "boy who receives a message on a red rotary dial phone in a secret underground room that tells him he must bust into Brisbane's notorious Boggo Road Prison to save his mum's life on Christmas Day."

The fastest-selling debut book in Australian history, "Boy Swallows Universe," which was originally released in 2018 by Harper Collins, has this distinction. It was then turned into a theatre play.

The previously announced series is being adapted for the big picture by Master and Commander, Happy Feet, and Hotel Mumbai author John Collee. Executive producers include Joel Edgerton ("The Great Gatsby," "Bright," "The King"), Kerry Kohansky-Roberts ("Foe," "Boy Erased"), Sophie Gardiner ("Howard's End," "Chimerica"), Andrew Mason ("The Matrix," "The Water Diviner," and "The Water Diviner"), as well as Troy Lum ("The Water Diviner," "Saving Mr. Banks," "Mao's Last Dancer").

According to Screen Queensland CEO Kylie Munnich, "This distinctively Brisbane production will also boost our local screen industry by injecting around AUSD33 million into the Queensland economy and creating approximately 185 jobs for cast and crew, as well as an estimated 2,500 extras."

The Production Attraction Strategy of Screen Queensland, which has brought domestic and international production to Queensland since 2015, was obtained for "Boy Swallows" and will fund it.

Examples from recent times include the NBC Universal television series "Young Rock," Paramount Pictures' "Love and Monsters," Legendary Pictures' "Godzilla vs. Kong," and the forthcoming Australian Broadcasting Corporation television series "Limbo."

"Dalton captivated the world with his brutal, yet magical, tale set in 1980s Brisbane among iconic local landmarks such as Boggo Road Gaol and Brisbane City Hall's clock tower," Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said, as reported by Variety.

In addition, Que Minh Luu, director of content at Netflix ANZ said, "Brisbane is such a key character in Boy Swallows Universe that Queensland was always the first-choice location for us to bring to life on screen the evocative and uniquely Australian universe that Trent created".