From Down Under
Mary K and I have been
on many of our son
Patrick’s movie sets, but
nothing like the one
COMMAERNTTARY
By John Wilson
John Wilson
he’s on now through October while
shooting Aquaman, the DC Comic/
Warner Bros. epoch. We recently were
on the Gold Coast of Australia near
Brisbane in Queensland at Village Roadshow Pictures, which
has produced more than 85 feature films, including Mad Max:
Fury Road, Ocean’s 11, 12 & 13, Matrix and Sandra Bullock’s
Miss Congeniality.
Our trip across the country to Los Angeles was uneventful,
but the second leg of the trip took 14 hours and covered 7,170
miles of the Pacific, as we flew direct to Brisbane on a 777-300.
When we arrived, we were out of step with Eastern Time by a
full day, after having crossed the International Dateline. We,
however, gained the day back on the return flight.
Patrick co-stars in this epoch action thriller with Jason
Momoa as Aquaman, who starred in TV’s Game of Thrones,
along with Willem Dafoe, Dolph Lundgren, Nicole Kidman
and Amber Heard. Patrick plays Aquaman’s evil half-brother
Orm/Ocean Master. The movie is Patrick’s fifth movie with
144 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | JULY/AUGUST 2017
director James Wan, who also directed
him in Conjuring 1 and 2 and Insidious
1 and 2.
The Aquaman studio is on the edge
of the Pacific Ocean, a few minutes
outside Brisbane. While we were there
in June, it was wintertime, exactly the
opposite of our weather in Florida.
But the Australian winter is in the 70s and gets chilly at night,
requiring a sweater or a light jacket.
We also went to Sydney to see that fantastic opera house
that is home to opera, theater and the Sydney Symphony. It
was as incredible as its reputation, leaving Mary K wanting
to get onstage to sing.
Our trip to the Down Under left us eager to see Patrick in
Aquaman, this very inventive film that is filled with special
effects and dramatic action. Aquaman is scheduled for release
at Christmas 2018. Justice League, a key part of the DC Universe,
comes out this fall. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: John Wilson ended 50-plus years of radio
and television news broadcasting with his final goodbye on WTVTFox
13 on November 26, 2014, the day before Thanksgiving.
Aquaman is
Patrick Wilson’s fifth movie
with director James Wan.