Occupation is an Australian science fiction action film, directed and written by Luke Sparke, with additional dialogue by Felix Williamson. The film was produced by Carly and Carmel Imrie, of SparkeFilms. A sequel titled Occupation: Rainfall is planned for release in 2020. In February 2018, Saban Entertainment acquired rights to the film in the North American region. Pinnacle Film is responsible for the film’s release in Australia and New Zealand.
Plot
The story follows a group of civilians who form a home grown resistance army after their small Australian country town is annihilated by an extraterrestrial force. Together they form the human rebellion in a battle for the planet and the survival of the human race.
Development Occupation was independently financed by SparkeFilms. The film was written, cast and financed in only six months. The film was cast solely by the producers, who negotiated the roles with each individual agent in order to keep the film as universal as possible. Filming and Locations The six week shoot took place between May 2017 to July 2017, with locations on Queensland's Gold Coast and in northern NSW. The film utilised over 150 locals as extras for the scenes involving the Australian rules match between the Kookaburras and the Drop Bears at Murwillumbah Showgrounds. Post Production Post production was completed in early 2018, with the post houses Byron Bay-based Cumulus VFX, Vancouver's CVD VFX and the UK'S Nvisible providing the VFX.
Reception
Occupation had its world premiere at the Ritz Cinema in Randwick on 10 July 2018. It was then released Australia-wide on 12 July. The film was released in the USA on 20 July 2018. , the film holds a critic approval rating of 47%, on review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, based on 19 reviews with an average rating of 5/10. The general audience approval rating on the same site is 89%. The film currently holds a 5.8/10 rating on IMDB. The film made a world widebox office of $35,111, and an estimated total sale of $820,000.
