Hollywood hits Western Sydney with set construction underway for Marvel epic

In a major boost for the local film industry, Marvel’s upcoming epic Shang-Chi and The Legend Of The Ten Rings is set to resume production in a secret Sydney location. Check out our exclusive pictures. In the first major sign that the film industry is slowly returning to normal, production has resumed on the upcoming Marvel epic filming in Western Sydney. The, elaborate multimillion-dollar sets for Shang-Chi and The Legend Of The Ten Rings were captured this week with production workers seen busily constructing the massive backdrops to serve as a ‘military compound’ in the movie. It’s understood all cast and crew that have arrived from overseas to work on the film have been quarantined with filming scheduled to begin next week. The film was scheduled to begin filming in March prior to the blanket COVID-19 shutdowns and was ultimately postponed by 18 weeks. Billed as Marvel’s first-ever Chinese superhero, Shang-Chi will be played by rising Canadian/Chinese star Simu Lieu with American actor and rapper Awkwafina also set to star. Veteran Chinese action film star Michelle Yeoh is also rumoured to be appearing in the flick which is slated for release in May next year. The postponement of the film has also pushed back another Marvel blockbuster – Thor: Love And Thunder – which was due to begin filming in Sydney in August but has since been delayed until early 2021. Its star Natalie Portman, who returns to the role of Jane Foster opposite Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, confirmed the scheduling change on an Instagram lifestream interview last week, saying; “More time to get jacked … I’ve got the carbo-loading down but not the exercise part. Adding; “It will be interesting to see if I can build muscle.” Meanwhile Nicole Kidman’s anticipated TV drama series Nine Perfect Strangers is also scheduled to begin shooting in Byron Bay next week with pre-production already well underway. Kidman, who arrived in Australia with husband Keith Urban back on July 20 and controversially quarantined at the couple’s Sutton Forest mansion, is due to arrive on set this week. The limited series, to be streamed on Hulu, sees Kidman reunite with acclaimed Australian writer Liane Moriarty who also wrote Big Little Lies for which Kidman received an Emmy. Nine Perfect Strangers also stars Melissa McCarthy, Samara Weaving and Asher Keddie.