The Delinquents (1989 Film) - Production

Production

Rights to the novel were purchased by first time producers Alex Cutler and Michael Wilcox in 1985 . They had been trying to obtain the rights another Australian novel but had difficulty negotiating with the author; someone suggested they have a look at The Delinquents, which Penguin were about to reissue. They obtained finance from the New South Wales Film Corporation and Australian Film Commission] and hired Lex Marinos to write a draft. In 1987 David Bowie announced in an interview he thought the book would make good movie, which re-ignited a great deal of interest in the project.

The Australian Film Commission provided further script development money enabling Dorothy Hewett to write a second draft. Greg Coote and John Tarnoff of Village Roadshow became involved and Coote suggested Kylie Minogue play the lead. At one stage Ben Mendelsohn was signed to appear opposite her but eventually it was decided to go with an imported actor so the film might appeal to an international market: Charlie Schlatter was chosen.

Chris Thomson was approached the direct. He did not like the script but thought the book was wonderful, so managed to persuade the producers to hire Mac Gudgeon, who had made Waterfront (1983) with Thomson, to work on the script. Village Roadshow agreed to provide half the budget and the producers applied to the FFC for further finance in October 1988.

The film was partly shot at Warner Bros studios on the Gold Coast.