David Gordon Green begins Sydney production on Supermax, Will Smith’s prison thriller bringing major local spending, jobs and global Prime Video reach.
David Gordon Green has begun production on Supermax, an Amazon MGM Studios and Miramax action thriller built around an apparently impossible murder inside a maximum-security prison. With Will Smith leading a sizeable ensemble, the Sydney shoot gives this Filmmaker Spotlight a timely focus on scale, location and global distribution.
Principal photography began in New South Wales on August 24, 2026, with cameras rolling in Sydney. Screen NSW confirmed that the production is receiving support through its Made in NSW Fund, placing another major international feature within the state’s screen-production ecosystem.
David Gordon Green takes on an enclosed prison mystery
Green is directing Supermax from a screenplay by David Weil and David J. Rosen. According to TheWrap, the story follows two FBI agents investigating a seemingly impossible murder committed inside an impenetrable maximum-security prison.
Smith and AnnaSophia Robb play the agents at the centre of the investigation. The wider cast includes Jason Clarke, Jaafar Jackson, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Andrés Almeida, Martin Bats Bradford and Erika Ringor.
The premise gives Green a production challenge that extends beyond conventional action. An enclosed prison setting must sustain tension while making its supposedly secure environment feel convincing, particularly when the central mystery depends on a crime that should not have been possible.
Supermax brings major production spending to New South Wales
The shoot is expected to generate more than $53 million in expenditure across New South Wales and create approximately 290 local jobs, according to Screen NSW. Those figures underline how a studio thriller can affect more than its visible cast, creating work across the crews, facilities and services required to mount a large production.
That aspect is especially relevant to Nollywood Spotlight readers working as filmmakers, producers and actors. Although Supermax is a Hollywood project, its Sydney production demonstrates how location incentives, experienced local crews and public screen funding can help a region attract internationally distributed films.
A global Prime Video release is planned
Amazon MGM Studios holds worldwide rights to Supermax, with distribution planned through Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories. That potential reach will place the film before audiences across Africa and the wider diaspora alongside viewers in other international markets.
No release date has been announced, and there is not yet an official trailer. For now, the most significant development is that Green’s prison thriller is officially before cameras, combining a high-concept mystery, an international cast and substantial investment in the New South Wales production sector.
Sources
Source links used to research and verify this article:
Screen NSWTheWrap
