Warwick Thornton , one of Australia’s leading filmmakers, is confirmed to direct “ First Warrior ,” an epic about Aboriginal resistance fighter Pemulwuy. The creative, on-screen and producing teams are equally stellar. Australia was colonized in the late 1700s.
Pemulwuy, a man of the Bidjigal tribes — from the region that is today modern-day Sydney — led a 12-year resistance against British settlers moving into his people’s traditional lands. The film’s core creators are an all-Indigenous team including Thornton, writer Jon Bell (“The Moogai,” “Cleverman”) and writer-producer Andrew Dillon (“Le Champion,” “Outliers”). Dillon, who is a direct descendent of both the Dharug and Gomeroi people, will produce through his That’s-A-Wrap Productions company.
No sales agent is yet attached. Stuart Beattie , the Oscar-winning screenwriter with credits including “Collateral” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” has also come on board alongside Phillip Noyce (“Rabbit-Proof Fence,” “Salt”) and Shana Levine (“The Portable Door,” “Charlie & Boots”). A search is underway to cast the roles of Pemulwuy and Bennelong, who was kidnapped by Governor Arthur Phillip to start a dialogue with Indigenous Australians.
Sam Worthington (“Avatar,” “Hacksaw Ridge”) and “Oppenheimer” star Jason Clarke are already confirmed to star. That’s-A-Wrap Productions is an Indigenous First Nations owned and operated producti.
