While many were excited about the return of the Crocodile Dundee franchise, the newly announced reboot was recently outed as merely an ad campaign for Tourism Australia.
While there has been no official confirmation of this from anyone involved with the project, the Brisbane Times claims that “industry sources” have indicated that the Danny McBride/Chris Hemsworth led teasers are leading up to something bigger.
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Reportedly, whatever is to come will make its highly anticipated debut during the Super Bowl in February.
When the teasers first appeared, they were apparently met with skepticism from people in the film production community, as now one could point to any specific filming announcements or notifications regarding the “movie.”
If the new Dundee movie really is a tourism hoax for a Superbowl ad, it’s one of the better hoaxes I’ve seen. #SBLII #SonOfALegend
— Dan Ranson (@danranson_) January 23, 2018
One other interesting thing that was discovered is that the director listed on Dundee is Steve Rogers, a well-known commercial director in Austrialia.
The first teaser for Dundee featured McBride wielding a large Crocodile Dundee-style knife. A second trailer took things up a notch and introduced Hemsworth as “as Wally Jr. The heir to the Outback’s most adventurous tour company.”
A premise for the project on its official website elaborates a little more on an established plot, explaining that McBride plays “the loudmouth American son no one knew” Crocodile Dundee had.
Apparently, Crocodile has gone missing and his son Brian is “the only person who might be able to find him.”
Brian is the “son of a legend” who is “forced to channel his Aussie roots as he teams up with a local expert, Wally Jr.” The two of them will “embark on the ultimate adventure in the land down under.”
The first Crocodile Dundee film came out in 1986 and was very well-received, as it brought in nearly $330 million on a budget of less than $10 million.
It also garnered several award nominations, with Crocodile Dundee himself Paul Hogan taking home a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
Crocodile Dundee II came out two years later in 1988 and was not quite as well-received as the original, but still had a huge box office revenue. It raked in just shy of $240 million on a budget of only $14 million.
Finally, the third film in the franchise, Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles, came out in 2011 and was mostly panned by critics and fans alike. The critic consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads, “A family movie without toilet jokes, but there’s nothing that haven’t seen before.”
Dundee: The Son of a Legend Returns Home was reported to debut sometime in summer of 2018, but that may not be entirely accurate based on the new information that has come to light.
