The Avatar actor will star in the Foxtel Miniseries.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sam Worthington will star and co-produce The Gallipoli Story miniseries alongside Michael Rymer (American Horror Story, Battlestar Galactica).
The miniseries are one of the two major productions to be made for Australian TV to commemorate the 2015 centenary of the World War I battle that largely defined Australian nationhood.
The Avatar actor will star as Philip Schuler, an Australian journalist who, with three other journalists (including a young Sir Keith Murdoch and Rupert Murdoch) were embedded at Gallipoli during the First World War. The series will show how they decided to end the Gallipoli War through their relationships with the young soldiers who were sent to fight to Gallipoli.
The four part series will be produced by Worthington’s Full Clip Productions alongside Matchbox Pictures. The screenplay will be written by Stuart Beattie, Jacquelin Perske, Cate Shortland and Shaun Grant.
Matchbox Pictures Chapman said that, “This is one of the most compelling stories I’ve ever been involved with and I’m thrilled to be working with Michael and the guys from FullClip. This is a young man’s vision of truth and war. It’s an original angle on our national legend.”
The Gallipoli Story will shoot in 2014 in South Australia.