‘Gods,’ ‘San Andreas’ Set to Start in Australia

[i [b Production got underway in Australia on Thursday on “Gods of Egypt,” Summit Entertainment’s period fantasy actioner.[/i [/b

HONG KONG – Production got underway in Australia on Thursday on “Gods of Egypt,” Summit Entertainment’s period fantasy actioner.

Filming begins at the Fox Studios in Sydney with Alex Proyas at the helm and stars Gerard Butler, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Geoffrey Rush (pictured, right) and Brenton Thwaites (pictured, left) heading the cast. French actress Elodie Yung (“G.I. Joe: Retaliation”) and Chadwick Boseman also feature.

Backed by Summit and produced by Proyas’ Mystery Clock Cinema and Basil Iwanyk’s Thunder Road, the film has a budget reported as $150 million.

Entertainment One’s Australian unit, previously Hopscotch Films, will handle the local release as a result of an output deal with Summit.

The start of production is also nearing for New Line Cinema’s Dwayne Johnson-starring action vehicle “San Andreas.”

“San Andreas” is to be directed by Brad Peyton who previously directed Johnson in “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” and is being produced by Beau Flynn (“Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters,” “Requiem for a Dream”), Hiram Garcia and Rob Cowan (“The Conjuring”).

A synopsis provided by location attraction organization Screen Queensland says: “Johnson is cast as a rescue helicopter pilot on a mission to find his daughter after a massive earthquake hits California.”

Australia fell out of favor with international productions who found the costs too high. However, a 10% fall in the value of the Australian currency against the U.S. dollar has helped Oz win back ‘runaway productions’ from California and other locations.