Danny McBride’s fake Dundee remake advert briefly duped everyone into thinking it was for a real movie – here’s how it was made. The original Crocodile Dundee from 1986 followed Mick Dundee (Paul Hogan), an Australian bushman who finds himself out of place when he arrives in New York City. Thanks to Hogan’s charismatic performance and some instantly iconic one-liners, the movie was a surprise smash hit. Hogan returned for 1988’s Crocodile Dundee II, which featured Dundee going up against vicious drug dealers.
Dundee’s impact on pop culture can’t be denied, but by the time the third entry arrived with 2001’s Crocodile Dundee In Los Angeles, the franchise was looking very tired. Hogan himself essentially ruled out another sequel, stating he was too old for another adventure. That’s one reason why movie fans were so confused by the arrival of a teaser trailer dubbed Dundee: The Son Of A Legend Returns Home at the beginning of 2018. This initial teaser featured Danny McBride - supposedly playing the long-lost American son of the title character - coming to Australia to find his missing father.
More teases for this mystery Dundee movie followed, featuring appearances from Chris Hemsworth, Hugh Jackman, and Margot Robbie. The idea of a Dundee movie reboot with a huge cast being shot entirely in secret didn’t ring true, so rumors soon spread it was some kind of tourism advert that would run during the Super Bowl. This was soon proven to be the case, with Tourism Australia creating the ad to highlight the country’s beauty, wines, and landmarks while using Crocodile Dundee’s status as a cultural icon to draw attention to their campaign.
Hogan’s Dundee made a brief appearance in the final ad, and even the cinematographer for the original Crocodile Dundee Russell Boyd returned to film the Dundee movie ad. The logic behind the advert was the realization that the last major spike in tourism to Australia came from the original Dundee movie and its sequel, alongside adverts where Hogan was promoting the country. This inspired ad firm Droga 5 to craft a campaign around a fake movie reboot of the franchise, and Danny McBride - who also co-wrote 2018 horror reboot Halloween - joined because he liked the silliness of the concept and thought an elaborate fake trailer was a fun idea.
Chris Hemsworth was Tourism Australia’s ambassador, so he appeared in the Dundee movie advert for free; his brothers Luke and Liam were also part of the campaign. While initial responses to the Dundee movie trailers were decidedly mixed, some fans warmed to the idea of a reboot with McBride and Hemsworth and were sad to discover the movie wasn’t real. While the campaign inspired fresh interest in Crocodile Dundee and Chris Hemsworth said he’d be open to making a real Dundee reboot, it feels like actually turning the idea into a movie would be against the tongue in cheek spirit of the campaign.
