Justin Kurzel’s latest film, “The True History of the Kelly Gang,” has just been released on VOD and seems to have struck a chord with film fans already. This is great news for the filmmaker that is coming off the disappointment of the “Assassin’s Creed” film adaptation. But ‘Kelly Gang’ isn’t the only thing that Kurzel has been working on recently, as he has a number of projects in development and production, including an Apple TV+ series titled “Shantaram,” starring Charlie Hunnam.
However, earlier this year, it was reported that production was halted on “Shantaram” (prior to the whole COVID-19 pandemic) due to the lack of scripts. Apparently, before production could be restarted, reports claimed that scripts needed to be rewritten. Then, obviously, COVID-19 put an even longer break on the production. So, speaking to The Playlist’s Fourth Wall podcast (available later today), Kurzel explained the status of “Shantaram,” as well as other projects he has in the works.
“Yeah, the scripts were still being developed so we were on a bit of a hiatus to get them to a place where they felt ready,” explained Kurzel. “It’s complicated because you’re shooting in India and monsoons happen in the middle of the year so you’ve really only got two avenues in which to shoot. So it was just about stepping back from it a bit and letting the writers catch up and then this [COVID-19] happened. So it’s on a hiatus, but by all sounds, everyone’s really happy with it and hopefully, we can start up again once everything gets back to normal.”
He added, “Charlie [Hunnam]’s fantastic in it. He’s such a good actor and it’s been great working with him…I’ve had a great time working with him on ‘Shantaram.” He’s a really seriously good actor and someone I’d love to keep working with and definitely a really good friend.”
Kurzel is also expected to direct the Margot Robbie feature, “Ruin.” However, since the film’s announcement, there hasn’t been much news. That being said, Kurzel explained that he’s “still attached to it and we’re still developing that.”
The third project that the filmmaker has in the works is a series adaptation of the famous novel, “The Narrow Road to the Deep North.” As for the status of that series, Kurzel replied, “Yeah, I’m doing that with Shaun Grant who wrote both ‘Snowtown‘ and ‘True History of the Kelly Gang.’ It’s an incredible book and amazing to just come off of the ‘True History of the Kelly Gang’ and then be a part of a real masterpiece like Richard [Flannagan]’s book. We’ve just got to a point where, hopefully, we’ll be going out to share it with people very soon. It’s a really exciting series.”
As mentioned, “The True History of the Kelly Gang” is available now, and you’ll be able to hear the full conversation with Kurzel later today when The Fourth Wall podcast is shared.