“Romper Stomper,” the iconic Australian neo-Nazi-themed film that was a career turning point for Russell Crowe, is to be revisited as a TV series. The 6-part show is an original production for Down Under video streaming service, Stan.
A high stakes crime drama/political thriller that explores the human face of extremism, the series is to be directed by Geoffrey Wright, who directed the 1992 cult movie, along with Daina Reid “Never Tear Us Apart: The Untold Story of INXS”), and New Zealand’s James Napier Robertson (“The Dark Horse”). Production gets under way this week.
Crowe will not return. Instead, the announced cast includes Jacqueline McKenzie and Dan Wyllie , reprising their roles from the original film. Joining them are Lachy Hulme (“Power Games: The Packer-Murdoch Story,” “Beaconsfield”), Sophie Lowe (“The Beautiful Lie,” “The Slap”), David Wenham (“Lion,” “Top of the Lake”) and rising star Toby Wallace (“Boys In The Trees”).
Production is by John Edwards and Dan Edwards for Roadshow Rough Diamond, with major production investment from Stan and federal funding agency Screen Australia, in association with Film Victoria. International distribution will be handled by DCD Rights.
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The series is written by Wright, Robertson, author/poet and rapper Omar Musa (Here Come the Dogs), and journalist and author Malcolm Knox. They frame the show as a timely revisiting of issues as today’s world confronts the politics of hate and hard-right populism.
“Romper Stomper will be unmissable television, as provocative now as the film was in 1992, examining at a personal level the hatred, fear, vengeance and politics hidden in plain sight all around us,” said Stan’s chief content officer, Nick Forward.
The streaming service has backed other original shows including “No Activity,” “Wolf Creek,” and upcoming “The Other Guy,” which premieres August 17.
