Clive Owen, Jason Statham set to shoot The Killer Elite starting May 13

Omnilab Media has released details of Irish director Gary McKendry’s The Killer Elite, the next chapter in the company’s plan to produce studio-style movies in Australia.

Cameras roll on May 13 on the action thriller starring Clive Owen (Children Of Men) and Jason Statham (The Bank Job); after two months of filming in Melbourne and surrounds the team moves to Wales.

Based on Sir Ranulph Fiennes’ 1993 novel The Feather Man, the script tells of a team of assassins headed by Danny Bryce (Statham), hunting down former members of the Special Air Service. Resistance comes in the shape of Spike (Owen), one of those protecting the ex soldiers.

Inferno Entertainment are handling sales and the producers are Australians Tony Winley, who co-produced Charlotte’s Web and The Great Raid, and Michael Boughen, executive producer of Omnilab production arm Ambience Entertainment.

It is understood that Omnilab has put up a significant slice of the financing, most of which will be spent in Australia; Film Victoria is providing a grant designed to secure the picture for that state.

Omnilab managing director Christopher Mapp and two of his most senior film executives, Matthew Street and David Whealy, are executive producers.

Steve Chasman, who will also get an executive producer credit, was originally listed as a producer when Inferno was first touting the film, before it was taken over by Omnilab. At that time the budget was $40m.

Screen Australia has given The Killer Elite a provisional certificate. This is the closest producers can get to a guarantee that a film will get a final certificate and thus be eligible to claim back 40% of its Australian expenditure under the producer offset in place for Australian films and international co-productions. Claims can only be made after completion of a film.

Privately owned by the Mapp family, Omnilab joined with Kennedy Miller Mitchell to set up Dr D Studios, which is currently busy on George Miller’s Happy Feet 2, and is in post-production on Stuart Beattie’s directorial debut Tomorrow When The War Began.

Omnilab is one of the biggest service providers to Australia’s film and television industry, and Christopher Mapp is driving the expansion into production.