Brendan Fraser and Jeff Daniels’ Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Starman’ Begins Production in Sydney

Brendan Fraser and Jeff Daniels have touched down in New South Wales, with production underway on the new cosmic sci-fi thriller Starman across Sydney and the Blue Mountains.

Written and directed by Newcastle-raised Emmy Award winner Josh Wakely, the film is being supported through Screen NSW’s Made in NSW Fund and is expected to generate more than A$23 million in expenditure for the state’s economy while creating an estimated 229 jobs for local cast and crew.

Fraser, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Whale, stars alongside two-time Emmy winner Daniels. The international pair are joined by a strong Australian contingent including Claudia Karvan, Stephen Curry, Ewen Leslie, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Huw Higginson and Heather Mitchell. Irish actor and comedian Aisling Bea and newcomer Oliver Aldrich round out the ensemble.

Filming has already taken place across Sydney and the Blue Mountains, as well as at Disney Studios Australia in Moore Park.

“Sydney is the perfect place for this film to lift off,” Screen NSW executive director Kylie Munnich said, welcoming Wakely and the production to the state.

The film follows visionary technologist Tom Adams, played by Fraser, who launches an historic expedition to Mars before the mission takes a disastrous turn. Daniels plays Ed Watkins, Adams’ powerful business partner and co-leader of the company behind the mission.

For New South Wales, Starman becomes the latest in a growing pipeline of major international productions choosing the state as a filming destination.

Sydney has hosted a number of high-profile projects throughout 2026, including Netflix’s Extraction 3, starring Chris Hemsworth and Idris Elba, crime drama Kockroach with Hemsworth, Taron Egerton and Zazie Beetz, The Big Fixstarring Riz Ahmed and Mark Wahlberg, and Apple’s Greyhound 2, led by Tom Hanks.

The international productions are shooting alongside a healthy slate of local film and television projects, including the third season of Colin From Accounts, medical drama The F Ward and See-Saw Films’ legal drama The Great White.

With more than A$23 million expected to flow into the NSW economy from Starman alone, the production provides another significant boost to the state’s screen sector.