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Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel begins filming in South Australia with Julia Garner, Hugo Weaving, Toby Wallace and Jessica Henwick
10 August 2022
Production is underway in South Australia on See-Saw Films’ social thriller The Royal Hotel, written and directed by Kitty Green, with Toby Wallace (Babyteeth, Pistol) announced today as joining the stellar cast.
Wallace will star alongside two-time Emmy Award winner Julia Garner (Inventing Anna, Ozark), AFI winner Hugo Weaving (Patrick Melrose, Oranges and Sunshine, The Matrix) and rising star Jessica Henwick (The Matrix Resurrections and upcoming Knives Out 2).
Wallace won the Marcello Mastroianni Award at the 2019 Venice Film Festival and the AACTA for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2020 for his performance in Babyteeth.
The Royal Hotel reunites writer/director Kitty Green and Julia Garner who previously worked together on Green’s breakout hit The Assistant which premiered at the 2019 Telluride Film Festival and earned Garner an Independent Spirit Award nomination.
The film is produced by the multi-award-winning See-Saw Films (The Power Of The Dog). NEON have acquired the North American rights.
The Royal Hotel is filming on locations in remote South Australia and in Adelaide.
A social thriller inspired by true events, the film follows Hanna (Garner) and Liv (Henwick) who are best friends backpacking in Australia. After they run out of money, Liv, looking for an adventure, convinces Hanna to take a temporary live-in job behind the bar of a pub called ‘The Royal Hotel’ in a remote Outback mining town. Bar Owner Billy (Weaving) and a host of locals, including the charming Matty (Wallace), give the girls a riotous introduction to Down Under drinking culture but things turn nasty when their jokes and behaviour cross the line. Soon Hanna and Liv find themselves trapped in an unnerving situation that grows rapidly out of their control.
The Royal Hotel is produced by Emile Sherman and Iain Canning of See-Saw Films, the Academy and BAFTA Award winning team behind The Power of the Dog, Lion and The King’s Speech, together with Animal Kingdom and The King producer Liz Watts, See-Saw Films’ Head of Film and Television (Aus), and Scarlett Pictures’ Kath Shelper (Samson & Delilah). See-Saw Films’ COO Simon Gillis will executive produce. Green co-wrote the script with Oscar Redding (Van Diemen’s Land).
Minister for The Arts The Hon. Andrea Michaels said: “It is a pleasure to welcome Academy Award winning company See-Saw Films back to South Australia with feature film The Royal Hotel. This is their third consecutive major production in the state in as many years.
“This major international production will bring significant benefits to South Australia. Not only will it create hundreds of local jobs, employing 225 of our state’s highly skilled screen industry professionals in a majority South Australian crew, the film will inject an estimated $4.6 million into our local economy, including in the regions. With the rights having already sold in the US for a theatrical release, this highly anticipated new thriller will be an international showcase of South Australia’s remarkable Outback locations, the capability of our Adelaide Studios production facilities and our exceptional screen talent – exporting South Australian knowledge and creativity to the world.
“I commend the SAFC for securing this exciting feature film for South Australia, cementing our state’s international reputation as a world class location for premium screen production.”
South Australian Film Corporation CEO Kate Croser said: “The SAFC is thrilled to be supporting production of The Royal Hotel in South Australia, marking the continuation of our successful production pipeline with multi award winning company See-Saw Films. This exciting new feature film will provide a significant level of production activity in Adelaide and South Australia’s regions, as well as employment and training opportunities for South Australian crew, growing the capability of SA’s screen industry.”
Producer Liz Watts said: “We are thrilled to have Toby Wallace join such a brilliant cast led by the inimitable Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick. Shooting has kicked off in the stunning landscapes of South Australia, and The Royal Hotel is well underway to be an undeniably gripping film under Kitty Green’s distinctive direction.”
The Royal Hotel is a See-Saw Productions production. Major production investment from Screen Australia in association with the South Australian Film Corporation. Financed with support from Screen NSW. Australian distribution by Transmission Films and international sales by HanWay and Cross City Films.
ABOUT SEE-SAW FILMS
See-Saw Films is a world leading, Academy Award, BAFTA and Emmy winning television and film production house, founded in 2008 by producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman. See-Saw is made up of an industry-leading team across offices in London and Sydney.
See-Saw’s ‘The Power Of The Dog’ written and directed by Jane Campion, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons, won the Best Director Academy Award® (and was nominated for a further 11 awards), and won Best Director and Best Film BAFTAs (and was nominated for a further 6 awards). See-Saw produced six-time Academy Award® nominated and two-time BAFTA winning ‘Lion’, starring Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman, and in 2011 won the Academy Award® for Best Motion Picture for ‘The King’s Speech’ which swept up an additional three awards from twelve nominations, as well as picking up seven BAFTAs from fourteen nominations. Recent projects include ‘Ammonite’ written and directed by Francis Lee, starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan; and ‘Widows’ directed by Steve McQueen and starring Viola Davis. Upcoming films include ‘Operation Mincemeat’ directed by John Madden, starring Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen and Kelly Macdonald; ‘The Stranger’, written and directed by Thomas M. Wright, starring Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris; ‘The Son’, directed by Florian Zeller and written by Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton, starring Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby and Anthony Hopkins; and ‘Foe’ written by Iain Reid and Garth Davis, directed by Garth Davis and starring Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal and Aaron Pierre.
ABOUT NEON
In just five years, NEON has garnered 18 Academy Award® nominations, 5 wins, including Best Picture, and has grossed over $180M at the box office. The company continues to push boundaries and take creative risks on bold cinema such as Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, which made history winning four Academy Awards®, becoming the first non-English-language film to claim Best Picture. The film, which also unanimously won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, has grossed over $53M at the domestic box office and broke multiple records. NEON has amassed a library of over 80 films with noteworthy releases including: Tamara Kotevska and Ljubo Stefanov’s award-winning and record-breaking Honeyland, which is the first non-fiction feature to land Academy Award® nominations for Best Documentary and Best International Feature Film in the same year; Todd Douglas Miller’s Apollo 11 which grossed $16M worldwide; Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner, Titane; and Craig Gillespie’s I, Tonya, which garnered multiple Academy Award® nominations, one win for Allison Janney and amassed over $30M in domestic box office.
The studio has several projects in various stages of development and production including: The Painter and the Thief narrative remake; Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool starring Alexander Skarsgård; an untitled horror film from first-time feature director Bishal Dutta; Joshua Oppenheimer’s The End, a golden-age musical starring Academy Award Winner Tilda Swinton; and the documentary, Seeking Mavis Beacon from director Jazmin Jones. Recent acquisitions and upcoming releases include; Jonas Carpignano’s sensation A Chiara; Beba, from New York Afro-Latina artist, Rebeca Huntt; Céline Sciamma’s Petite Maman; and Ninja Thyberg’s daring debut feature Pleasure.
Additional recent releases include: Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner, Titane; Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria starring Tilda Swinton; the anthology feature The Year of the Everlasting Storm; Matthew Heineman’s documentary The First Wave; Nicolas Cage starrer, Pig; Jamila Wignot’s Ailey; Gunda directed by Victor Kossakovsky; Robert Machoian’s powerful thriller The Killing of Two Lovers; Billie Eilish’s documentary The World’s a Little Blurry; Ben Wheatley’s Horror Film In the Earth; Francis Lee’s romantic drama Ammonite starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan; Alex’s Gibney’s documentary Totally Under Control; Max Barbakow’s Palm Springs starring Andy Samberg; and Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
Following a successful collaboration on I, Tonya in January 2018, 30WEST (Dan Friedkin’s and Micah Green’s strategic venture) partnered with NEON’s Tom Quinn (Founder & CEO) and Tim League (Co-Founder) to become majority investors in the company.
ABOUT HANWAY FILMS
HanWay Films is a UK based financing, sales, distribution and marketing company with a strong influence on the independent film market. Established in 1998 by producer Jeremy Thomas, HanWay Films offers full service and creative solutions; specialising in quality and commercially driven films from diverse, visionary and unique filmmakers around the world. HanWay Films has long-term global producing partnerships and represents films from sister company Recorded Picture Company along with projects from third party producers as well as the rights to an extensive film catalogue of over 350 feature films.
HanWay’s slate includes Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO which will screen In Competition at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, Kitty Green’s THE ROYAL HOTEL, Justin Kurzel’s MORNING; Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s HOT MILK; rising director Leo Leigh’s SWEET SUE; Dania Pasquini and Max Giwa’s adrenaline fuelled BREAKING POINT; MCCARTHY directed by Václav Marhoul; EVEREST directed by Doug Liman; Paul Schrader’s MASTER GARDENER; Robert Connolly’s BLUEBACK; Alice Lowe’s TIMESTALKER; and Ruth Paxton’s directorial debut A BANQUET. The company also represents writer and director Rupert Everett’s LOST AND FOUND IN PARIS; Amma Asante’s Cold War thriller THE BILLION DOLLAR SPY; Phillip Noyce’s PEGGY JO; Kim Mordaunt’s WILDLANDS and Jasmine McGlade’s FENCER.