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DREAMER: Another of Peter Jackson's dreams is coming true; he will produce a $76m remake of the movie The Dam Busters, most of which to be shot in Wellington.
First there was King Kong and now another childhood dream is about to come true for film-maker Peter Jackson – a $76 million new version of the classic film The Dam Busters.
Jackson reveals today that he will produce the film, to be known as Dambusters, based on one of World War II's most daring feats when Royal Air Force bombers destroyed German dams using bouncing bombs.
Most of the US$50 million film will be shot in Wellington, where about 10 full-scale replicas of the Lancaster bombers used in the 1943 raid will be built by visual effects company Weta Workshop. Some filming is also likely in Britain.
"I always thought that out of all the World War II true stories this is one of the most extraordinary," Jackson, a longtime aviation and war buff, told The Dominion Post.
"My parents were English and they were both involved in the war. When it comes to World War II, I'm very based in this English mindset.
"Mum and Dad talked about it all the time. I almost feel like I lived through World War II."
The film will be based on the book The Dam Busters, the 1954 British film of the same name – and new information about the top-secret mission, which included two New Zealanders and an American as well as British and Canadian crews.
Jackson, 44, first saw the 1954 film, which focused on inventor Barnes Wallis and mission commander Guy Gibson, at a Wellington cinema when he was 12. He had been fascinated by the mission, but 10 years ago when he first considered remaking the film he was told Hollywood star Mel Gibson had bought the film rights, held by British broadcaster Sir David Frost, and hoped to star and direct.
"I'd been chasing it for a long, long time but I forgot about it for a while at that point," Jackson said. "Then about two years ago my agent got back to me to say Mel Gibson had dropped out and they were looking around for suitable film-makers to take it on. That's when I jumped on board."
In May Britain's Mail on Sunday reported plans for the film, which Jackson at the time dismissed. He said yesterday he was then still negotiating the rights to make the film, which got the green light only last week.
It will be backed by Hollywood's Universal Pictures and Europe's biggest film company, StudioCanal. Jackson's agent Ken Kamins and Sir David will be executive producers.
"Peter Jackson is the ideal producer, not only because of his film-making genius, but also because of his aeronautical expertise and unique understanding of the human pressures wrought by war," Sir David said.
Computer-generated visual effects and models will depict much of the mission. Jackson had not ruled out using working Lancasters, but the 10 replicas would not fly.
"You do have to have them on the airfield and actors walking around them. We're not going to resort to CG (computer-generated effects) for every single shot in this movie."
It was likely a British screenwriter would be hired. The cast could include A-list stars, but director Christian Rivers said they were most likely to cast actors in their 20s for the main roles. Wing Commander Gibson was only 24 and some pilots were as young as 20.
"One of the things that's really important for us, which isn't in the original film, is to capture how young these pilots really were," Rivers said.
Jackson did not expect problems fitting the film in with others being made at his Wellington studios, including sci-fi epic Halo and The Lovely Bones, which he will direct.
Jackson said Halo was likely to start shooting early next year – and it was possible Halo and Dambusters could be shot about the same time. The Lovely Bones, for which he expected a draft script to be completed next week, would be filmed later.
