Yesterday’s Calder Freeway closure was to make way for the filming of a Hollywood blockbuster starring Liam Neeson.
The Melbourne freeway was used as the set of a high speed car chase for the action movie The Mongoose.
This is Neeson’s third movie to be filmed in Victoria in four years. “I’m honoured to be back in Victoria working on my latest film The Mongoose with one of the best crews, again, that I have ever worked with in over 100 movies,” he said.
Producers Al Corley and Bart Rosenblatt added, “We are so fortunate to be able to make another picture with the extraordinary Liam Neeson and the talented Mark Vanselow. Shooting in Victoria again is fantastic – Melbourne is a great city to shoot in – the local crews and the technical capabilities of the virtual stages are terrific.”
Last week, road users were told a section of the Calder Freeway in Victoria would be closed to traffic between Melbourne and Bendigo on Tuesday, February 18 – with closures in place between Malmsbury and Harcourt from 6am-10pm.
Crews are expected to continue filming until February 2026, with The Mongoose due for release on Amazon in late 2026.
Currently filming across Victoria, The Mongoose stars Neeson as Ryan “Fang” Flanagan, a war hero who, accused of a crime he didn’t commit and with nothing to lose, leads police on an epic televised cross-country car chase from Kentucky to the American Southwest.
The film will inject more than $19 million into the Victorian economy, with an estimated $2 million being spent in regional Victorian communities.