After I Hate Luv Storys, partly shot in the beautiful Queens town city of New Zealand, another big-budget Bollywood movie, a remake of The Italian Job, is scheduled to be filmed here towards the end of the year.
Director duo Abbas-Mustan has signed Abhishek
Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor for the remake. A crew of 90 to 100 from India will fly down for about 50 days of shooting, a New Zealand Tourism statement said.
"The producers have been in New Zealand, scouting for scenes and camera staff. The movie will be shot in Auckland and Wellington, with Auckland's Viaduct Basin - in the city's vibrant downtown waterside area - targeted for the big car chase scenes," the statement added.
The project will have a budget of around NZ$43 million (US$30 million/Rs 1.4 billion). Abbas-Mustan say that no compromises will be made to make sure the latest version of The Italian Job is as good as the original.
"We're going to Indianise The Italian Job. We'll add roles for two heroines. We might even have an American actress in the film. And the villain will be played by one of the top heroes. We want to make it better than the original," Abbas-Mustan said.
Michael Caine starred in the original 1969 version of The Italian Job. A 2003 remake with Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron and Donald Sutherland was also a commercial success.