RACHEL GRIFFITHS & ANTHONY LAPAGLIA LEAD STELLAR CAST FOR JULIAN ASSANGE TELEMOVIE – UNDERGROUND
SHOOTING COMMENCES APRIL 16 IN AND AROUND MELBOURNE
Network TEN is thrilled to announce Golden Globe winner Rachel Griffiths (Brothers and Sisters, Six Feet Under) and Emmy Award Winner Anthony LaPaglia (Without a Trace, Balibo) have been cast in UNDERGROUND; a telemovie based around the early life Julian Assange, who will be played by newcomer Alex Williams.
Written and directed by AFI Award winning filmmaker Robert Connolly (Balibo, The Slap) and produced by the team behind the award winning series The Slap, Helen Bowden (Producer) and Tony Ayres (Executive Producer) of Matchbox Pictures, the telemovie explores a community of young underground computer hackers, lead by Assange, during the late 1980s and early 1990s in Melbourne.
Griffiths is set to portray Christine Assange, Julian’s activist mother whilst LaPaglia will play Detective Ken Roberts, the police officer determined to uncover the young renegade’s hacking activity.
Network Ten, Executive producer, Rick Maier says “Everyone has an opinion about Julian Assange. This film will deliver a compelling insight into who Julian is, and how he became one of the most talked-about figures of our time. We are delighted Rachel and Anthony are on board for this exciting television event for TEN”.
Producer, Helen Bowden said, “Underground is the incredible, true story of a group of schoolboys in Melbourne who were hacking into the some of the biggest corporate and military organizations in the world, at the dawn of the internet age. It is a fascinating tale and we are very excited to be bringing it to the screen. “
Alex Williams (Assange) will be joined on screen by Callan McAuliffe (The Great Gatsby, I Am Number Four), Laura Wheelwright (Animal Kingdom) and Jordan Raskopoulos (Ronnie Johns Half Hour, The Axis of Awesome).
UNDERGROUND commences a four-week shoot on April 16, 2012 in and around Melbourne and will be aired on Network Ten during the second half of 2012.
UNDERGROUND is the story of teenage Julian’s early foray into computer hacking up until his first arrest. Set in suburban Melbourne in the late 1980s, UNDERGROUND delves into Assange’s turbulent upbringing with activist mother Christine as well as his first friendships and girlfriend. Forming a hacking circle, nicknamed ‘The International Subversives’, Assange begins breaking into the computer systems of the world’s most powerful organizations. In an era before the internet, the teenagers wage a technological war from their bedrooms, hacking into the US military from their home-jigged computers and parent’s phone lines. All the while they are being hunted by the Australian Federal Police led by Detective Ken Roberts who is charged with shutting them down.
UNDERGROUND will be distributed throughout the world by NBCU International, who took a stake in Matchbox Pictures in 2011.
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