Josh Lucas Plays Red Dog

Roadshow Films and Woss Group Films announce American star Josh Lucas to play lead in legendary tale of Red Dog.

Josh Lucas (Sweet Home Alabama, A Beautiful Mind, Glory Road) has secured the lead role of "John" in the true story of a charismatic kelpie who united a mining community in the 1970s and '80s.

Lucas joins an impressive ensemble cast including Rachael Taylor (Transformers), Noah Taylor (Shine, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Almost Famous), Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider) Luke Ford (Animal Kingdom), Rohan Nichol (Star Wars: Episode III, Fool's Gold), Arthur Angel (The Chronicles of Narnia(3), Ghost Rider) and canine co-star Koko.

Directed by Kriv Stenders (Lucky Country) and produced by Nelson Woss (Ned Kelly) and Julie Ryan (Ten Canoes), Red Dog will film for a total of nine weeks: five weeks in South Australia followed by four weeks on location in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia.

The script has been adapted by writer Daniel Taplitz (Chaos Theory) from the novel Red Dog by award-winning author Louis De Bernières (Captain Corelli's Mandolin).

Managing Director of Roadshow Films, Joel Pearlman commented: "The novel by Louis De Bernières has been much loved by many Australians and it is tremendously exciting it will soon be a feature film.

This is a wonderfully heartwarming story for a family audience and we are looking forward to releasing Red Dog in 2011".Producer Nelson Woss said: "Red Dog is thrilled to have Josh Lucas on board. Josh has a huge fan-base in Australia and around the world and is perfectly cast for the role he will play."

ScreenWest, the South Australian Film Corporation and Screen Australia have invested in Red Dog along with substantial support from the private sector via sponsorship from Rio Tinto, Woodside, Westrac, Skywest and Pedigree.

Woss Group Films promotional Red Dog footage can be viewed at: www.reddogmovie.com