“Balls Up,” an action comedy from “Green Book” director Peter Farrelly and starring Mark Wahlberg, is shooting this month in Queensland, Australia. The photo is supported by Amazon MGM Studios and Skydance.
The film follows two American marketing executives who are fired after botching a client sponsorship opportunity and decide to use their free tickets to a major football match. Their drunken debauchery has them hunted by everyone across the country. The cast is led by Wahlberg (“The Family Plan”) and Paul Walter Hauser (“The Instigators”).
The film’s writers are Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese (“Deadpool & Wolverine”). Producers include Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger, as well as Andrew Muscato, Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese.
It is calculated that the production will generate an estimated A$64.8 million ($43 million) into the Queensland economy, employing around 250 local cast and crew, as well as utilizing small businesses. The film will be based at Village Roadshow Studios in Gold Coast.
Location attraction agency Screen Queensland said it had secured the film through its Production Attraction Strategy. Australia also has a generous federal program with production, post-production and special effects rebates that the film could take advantage of.
“With its wide variety of urban and rural locations combined with a robust incentive program and talented crew base, Queensland was the perfect choice to base our production,” said Brad Carlson, EVP of physical production at Skydance.
Amazon and Skydance backed Farrelly’s previous Australian-based ‘Ricky Stanicky’. Skydance was also one of the sponsors of “The Greatest Beer Run Ever,” Farrelly’s first feature film completed following the 2018 hit “Green Book.”
Other international films and series shot in Queensland this year include Ron Howard’s ‘Eden’, ‘The Bluff’ and ‘Good Cop/Bad Cop’. Recent Australian productions include ‘Dangerous Animals’, ‘Black Snow’, ‘Rock Island Mysteries’ and the ‘Gettin’ Square’ sequel, ‘Spit’.
