Sam Worthington to Star in Surfing Film 'Drift'

SYDNEY -- Sam Worthington is to return to his home town of Perth to star in new surfing film Drift, set in the south west of Australia, national film agency Screen Australia said Wednesday.

Drift is set in 1972 and tells the story of the Fisher brothers as they start a new life in a remote Australian coastal town where they come up against suspicious locals, killer waves and ruthless bikers as they struggle to kick-start a new business based on surfing, their greatest passion.

Both Screen Australia and the Western Australian government will provide financing for the feature, which will be produced by Tim Duffy and Myles Pollard of World Wide Mind Films, and Michele Bennettand executive produced by Joan Peters.

Morgan O’Neill, a former winner of Project Greenlight Australia, has written the script and will co-direct with Ben Nott.

Principal photography will start in the Margaret River region of WA later this year.

West Australian regional development minister Brendon Grylls said the film would provide an economic and promotional boost to the state’s South-West.

The state government is providing AUS $1.5 million ($1.485 million) in funding.

“Drift is a unique opportunity to put the international spotlight on Margaret River and the South-West region,” Grylls said.

“Sam Worthington, one of the world’s highest profile actors at the moment is on board and the storyline showcases the region’s stunning coastline so we expect the publicity for the project will be strong both locally and internationally.”

Screen Australia acting CEO Fiona Cameron added, “The unique combination of surfing and performance expertise gives Drift the potential to be the first character-driven action movie set in the surfing world since Kathryn Bigelow’s Point Break."

Hopscotch Films will distribute Drift in Australia with worldwide sales to be handled by TF1.

Screen Australia also announced it will help fund another WA production, indigenous coming of age story, Satellite Boy. ScreenWest said it is currently assessing this project for production funding.