STAFF WRITERS
VICTORIA’S screen industry economy and local jobs are set for a big boost, with Hollywood star Liam Neeson returning to the state for his latest project, Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky.
Filming is currently taking place in Walhalla.
Walhalla is set to be the backdrop for some of the movie’s epic action scenes. The production will also shoot across Melbourne and use the state-of-the art volume screens and technology at NantStudios at Docklands Studios Melbourne.
Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky is the action-packed sequel to the 2021 movie The Ice Road, which follows Liam Neeson’s character Mike McCann on a high-octane adventure through Nepal’s treacherous mountainscape.
Almost 600 local jobs will be created through the production for screen industry workers and extras, with the production set to inject more than $30 million into the state economy – boosting jobs, the economy and attracting visitors from across the globe to Melbourne.
More than 700 jobs were created when Liam Neeson filmed the conspiracy thriller Blacklight in Victoria in 2020 and generated more than $23 million in economic value for the state.
Joining Neeson in the cast for this latest production are Australians Bernard Curry (Wentworth, Savage River), Geoff Morrell (Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Harrow) and Grace O’Sullivan (Erinsborough High, Neighbours).
Original Ice Road writer and director Jonathan Hensleigh, writer of Die Hard with a Vengeance, Armageddon and Jumanji, is back on board for the sequel.
Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky was attracted to Victoria through the federal government’s Location Incentive and the government’s Victorian Screen Incentive and Regional Location Assistance Fund.
Walhalla will be almost unrecognisable in the film, with the town transformed to look like Nepal.
It is expected around 10 minutes making the final cut will be shot in the tourist town.
Neeson was spotted in Walhalla last week, with a number of film buffs trying to get a peak of the A-Lister.
Although there was some debate surrounding whether or not it was actually Neeson and not just a stunt double, photos would suggest the man himself was there in the flesh.
