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Filming underway on The Portable Door for Stan

Christoph Waltz, Sam Neill, Patrick Gibson & Mirando Otto feature in upcoming magical fantasy adventure.

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Cast have been announced for upcoming Stan Original Film, The Portable Door, a magical fantasy adventure which is currently in production in Queensland.

Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained, No Time to Die) and Sam Neill (Peter Rabbit, Jurassic Park) star alongside Patrick Gibson (The OA, Tolkien), Miranda Otto (The Unusual Suspects, Lord of the Rings), Chris Pang (Crazy Rich Asians), Jessica DeGouw (The Secrets She Keeps, Pennyworth), Rachel House (Soul, Thor: Ragnarok), Arka Das (Mulan, Lion), Damon Herriman (Mr. Inbetween,  The Commons) and Sophie Wilde (Eden, You Don’t Know Me).

Stan Chief Content Officer Cailah Scobie said: “Stan continues its strong investment and focus on premium local programs and feature films like The Portable Door as part of our strategy to create more Australian produced content. Helmed by one of Australia’s most accomplished directors in Jeffrey Walker and featuring award winning actors Christoph Waltz, Sam Neill and Patrick Gibson, alongside a stellar Australian cast, we look forward to seeing this magical film cast a spell on Stan subscribers.”

Madman Entertainment CEO and Founder Paul Wiegard said: “The film promises a joyful cinematic experience; a big screen visual feast of imagination, fantasy and humour. Audiences will recapture, uninterrupted, that feeling from their youth of watching a truly creative work.”

Executive producer Lisa Henson said: “Director Jeffrey Walker is leading an amazing cast and creative team to bring to life the high-fantasy setting and unique humour of The Portable Door. An unexpected adventure filled with deeply funny moments; The Portable Door is poised to be the next Henson fan favourite.”

Producer Todd Fellman said: “It has been exciting to watch the diverse comedic talents of our incredible cast take this gem of a script by Leon Ford to a whole new level. We are truly creating a very special film that will be lots of fun for audiences of all ages.”

Adapted from Tom Holt’s eponymous seven-book fantasy series, award-winning Australian director Jeffrey Walker (Ali’s Wedding, Stan Original Series The Commons) is directing the film from a screenplay adapted by Australian writer Leon Ford (Griff the Invisible).

A Jim Henson Company and Story Bridge Films production, The Portable Door is produced by Blanca Lista from The Jim Henson Company (Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance), and Todd Fellman from Story Bridge Films (Daybreakers, Bait 3D). The Jim Henson Company’s Lisa Henson and Chris Lytton are executive producing as well as Arclight Films’ Gary Hamilton, Brian Beckmann, and Ying Ye, alongside Julia Stuart and Laura Grange from Sky, and Stan’s Cailah Scobie and Shana Levine. Madman Entertainment will handle theatrical distribution, ahead of the film’s premiere on Stan.

In The Portable Door, Paul Carpenter (Patrick Gibson) and Sophie Pettingel (Sophie Wilde) are the lowly, put-upon interns who begin working at the mysterious London firm J.W. Wells & Co. and become steadily aware that their employers are anything but conventional. Charismatic villains Humphrey Wells (Christoph Waltz), the CEO of the company, and middle manager Dennis Tanner (Sam Neill) are disrupting the world of magic by bringing modern corporate strategy to ancient magical practices, and Paul and Sophie discover the true agenda of the vast corporation where they work.

Financing and distribution partners include Sky Studios, Stan, Madman Entertainment, MEP Capital, Fulcrum Media Finance and Arclight Films International. Development and production support provided by Screen Queensland.

5 Responses

  1. A Jim Henson company makes me think of puppets, so I hope ‘The Portable Door’ wont be revisiting The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, it may be a bit distracting with all the high profile stars involved, though Sam Neil wont mind I’m sure.

    1. Stan is owned by Nine, but it’s a tricky question. Premium drama looks headed for subscription models. Even critically acclaimed shows like Wakefield and Unusual Suspects are getting low numbers in overnights, albeit available on their streaming models. What did you think of those two?

      1. Only watched unusual suspects and thought it was a good show. Really looking forward to flying doctors. Hope one day we get more underbelly for tv

    2. If they developed a business relationships with international distributors they could, there’s a growing market for TV and movie content for the global SVOD market and Australia has all the production studio facilities needed.
      It’s notable that the State Governments are competing for major overseas film makers to make their product in Australia.

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