Amazon Prime Video will be premiering the new Paul Hogan film The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee in its streaming service on Friday July 17, 2020.
Originally slated for cinema release in April and following the unprecedented closure of movie theatres with the COVID-19 outbreak, The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee will be premiering exclusively on Prime Video in Australia and New Zealand.
Starring as a fictionalised version of himself, The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee sees Paul Hogan enjoying a quiet life and all the perks of retirement in Brentwood, California, but he can’t seem to stay out of the headlines. When his granddaughter Lucy (Charlotte Stent) finds out he’s been offered a knighthood for services to comedy and tells all her friends, Paul reluctantly accepts the offer and has six weeks to stay out of trouble before the ceremony. But wherever Paul goes, trouble follows, and we see Paul’s reputation hilariously put through the ringer the closer we get to his important meeting with his biggest Royal fan.
Joining Hogan in his new adventure is a star-studded cast including comedy legend’s John Cleese (Monty Python, A Fish Called Wanda) and Chevy Chase (National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Fletch), Olivia Newton-John (Grease), Aussie favourites Shane Jacobson (Kenny, Oddball), Julia Morris (House Husbands), Rachael Carpani (McLeod’s Daughters), as well as comedy stars including Jim Jefferies (The Jim Jefferies Show), Reggie VelJohnson (Die Hard), and Wayne Knight (Seinfeld, Jurassic Park).
“Transmission Films has a long and esteemed history of unearthing great Aussie storytelling across different genres and supporting the local filmmaking industry and we’re honoured to partner with them so audiences can enjoy Paul Hogan’s latest comedy,” said Tyler Bern, Head of Content Australia, New Zealand at Amazon Prime Video.
“Australian and NZ Amazon customers love Paul Hogan and we are thrilled to be bringing The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee to households across both countries as part of our growing content line-up for local Prime members.”
“When I first started out people used to watch me on a scratchy, black and white 9-inch tele,” said Paul Hogan. “Now they can sit in their homes and watch their 80-inch screen with fully digital everything. It is exciting that with cinemas having a rest people can now see The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee thanks to Prime Video’s amazing support for original Australian content.
“As audiences will see in The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee, all of the film is fact, except for the bits we totally made up. We know some of it is true and some is utter lies, but we’ve forgotten which is which… People ask what is true and what is not. What I do know is that fact is certainly funnier than fiction,” said Hogan.
The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee is directed by homegrown Aussie director Dean Murphy, who previously worked with Hogan on Strange Bedfellows (2004), Charlie & Boots (2009) and That’s Not My Dog! (2018). Murphy, who co-wrote the script with Robert Mond, also produced the film, alongside Nigel Odell.
“More than ever I feel the world needs a laugh and who better than Hoges to deliver that!” said director Dean Murphy. “With the ever changing world around us, we are thrilled to be partnering with Amazon Prime Video in premiering The Very Excellent Mr Dundee.”