What Do The Critics Say?

"I think the opening scenes in Melbourne are really quite funny and they promise something more than you actually get. But once the film gets to Mykonos, it goes for the most obvious targets." David Stratton ABC AT THE MOVIES "Incredibly, Kings Of Mykonos can join the elite club of sequels which are better than the original. However, because juvenile rabble The Wog Boy set the bar so low, the follow-up only needed an actual storyline to rise above its shambolic, skit-house roots. Fully sick: only if you are a Wog Boy fan." Zach Gibson EMPIRE MAGAZINE "The Wog Boy, directed by Aleksi Vellis in 2000, was energetic but crude film-making. The new one, directed by Peter Andrikidis, is just as energetic and crude at times but supported by a better story. And let's face it, Mykonos is a lot prettier backdrop than Richmond and Prahran. Like The Godfather Part II, the second Wog Boy film is even better than the first. This would not be hard." Paul Byrnes THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD "The Wog Boy milked the multicultural brand that Nick Giannopoulos and his collaborators had cultivated for decades, and they laughed all the way to the bank. Its success was a boon for multicultural storytelling, even if its witless gags were as old as religion. Director Peter Andrikidis keeps things moving at a steady pace. Although Wog Boy 2’s plot is flimsy and the jokes are cheesier than a feta pastizzi, the execution is much, much slicker than the previous effort." Fiona Williams SBS

"If there is an element to Wog Boy 2's production that justifies the end product, it's that, with Greece's current financial woes, it paints a lovely scene. Indeed, it's hard to make an ugly production about a gorgeous island locale. Every scene has been set against a backdrop of classic (read: gratuitous) Greek island vistas. Blue oceans stretch to the horizon as whitewashed communities dot one perfect stretch of beach after another. The camera coverage is decent enough: and really, the production values aren't too shabby at all." Patrick Kolan ING AU "Steve Karamitsis takes his dance moves and his automotive obsessions to Mykonos to claim an inheritance and discover things about himself, along with his good buddy Frank. In this latest extension of the Wog Boy franchise, 10 years after the first film, the scenery is inviting and Alex Dimitriades makes an excellent villain, but the comedy, though amiable, often falls flat." Philippa Hawker THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD "It's colourful and light but the only really solid performance is by Alex Dimitriades who is actually stoic in this mayhem. Vince Colosimo who plays the Italian sidekick doesn't do a bad job as an Italian cliché but he's done much better roles in his time.This film is vastly better directed by Peter Andrikidis than the earlier one." Margaret Pomeranz ABC AT THE MOVIES "Rather than delving into the issues presented by a clash of cultures, this film diverges into frivolous romantic comedy territory but still offers plenty of laughs. Mykonos looks beautiful on screen, with the vibrant blue of the ocean contrasting with the stark whiteness of the buildings. It's a fresh setting for these familiar characters, who offer fans of the first film plenty of laughs and many more quotable lines." Alicia Malone FILMINK

The Inside Story on The Kings Of Mykonos The Kings of Mykonos is the sequel to the phenomenally successful Australian comedy, The Wog Boy. Released in 2000 it grossed more than $13.4 million at the Australian Box office and ranks in the top 15 of the all-time highest grossing Australian films. "The original idea for the Kings Of Mykonos came to me in the late 90’s and was about a guy who goes to Mykonos and earns the title The King of Mykonos for bedding 43 women in one summer," says Giannopoulos, adding that this was based on a real character he met on the island that he’s been visiting virtually every summer since 1992. Giannopoulos says it quickly became apparent that character was never going to be right as the film’s lead, but the seed was planted for a movie based on Mykonos. "Kings Of Mykonos stayed in my head for a long time and I kept developing it with very different types of storylines and characters: because essentially I loved the place and I always wanted to do something there; there was a certain magical quality about this Aegean island and something about the landscape that I thought would suit the right story." Giannopoulos slowly over the years began exploring broader themes of belonging and identity and second generation Australian migrants returning 'home'. The script took on many forms until, on flight back from LA; the idea of linking it with the original “Wog Boy” hit him. “I never really thought about making a sequel and the idea for this film never started as a sequel it had its own life and its own characters. And then having come full circle I realised that it would actually work a lot better as a follow up. It could be a valid and interesting progression of some of the themes in the first film " explains Giannopoulos. "The number of people who come up to me or write to me or even on the fan pages on Facebook who constantly quote dialogue from the first film is extraordinary. I mean there are a lot of people who have watched that film 40, 50 times it’s become a part of their lives. So this also gave me a lot of confidence and I just grabbed a pen and I just started writing all my ideas down and by the end of the flight I had roughly plotted out a story that combined the Wog Boy characters with some of my original Kings of Mykonos ideas." With the technical polish and expertise of co-writer Chris Anastassiades, they completely reworked their earlier drafts and brought back The Wog Boy’s most memorable characters, added all the colour and characters of Mykonos, crafting it into a buddy road comedy that is essentially a fish out of water story! "We pick up on the fact that there are these two guys that are getting older who still haven't managed to find anyone to settle down with. They haven't really found true love and have made a lot of mistakes in their lives," says Giannopoulos. "Steve is obsessed by his car and his lifestyle and Frank is just obsessed with bedding as many women as he can so there is an enormous journey these two characters go on through the course of this film. There is also this recent cultural phenomenon all over the western world whereby second and third generation children of migrants travel to their parents or grandparents country of birth for the first time. This cultural clash/reawakening had a lot of comedic potential and really excited both Chris and myself. It’s something we hadn’t really seen in other films but had both experienced first hand when we both went back to Greece for the first time a few years back. So ‘The Kings of Mykonos’ is quintessentially an Australian film–shot almost entirely in Greece about what happens when cultures clash. It’s about the search for love and identity and ultimately about the underdog who prevails against the odds." After developing the script to a point where Nick felt it was in reasonable shape, he contacted producer Emile Sherman ("The King’s Speech", "Disgrace" & "Candy") of See Saw Films, who loved the idea of working with Nick, and creating a fish out of water comedy in one of the world’s most iconic islands. "For this very ambitious project I realised that I needed a partner with a lot of international experience and success as a Producer. Another friend in the industry suggested Emile to me and I knew as soon as I met him that we could work very well together and he was exactly the person I had been looking for" says Giannopoulos. He and Sherman then approached Peter Andrikidis "Underbelly") to direct the film. He had worked with Giannopoulos on "Acropolis Now" and jumped at the opportunity to direct the film. "I only did two or three episodes of "Acropolis Now" but I really enjoyed it, it was one of the highlights. I met Chris (Anastassiades) and Nick there. We are similar in our sense of humour. I’m a Sydney boy and Chris and Nick are Melbourne boys, but the jokes we used to do, the stories were the same, which I found amazing. Having a Greek father and an Australian mum, I got it, even though Nick jokingly used to call me the 'pretend Greek' If you get that sense of humour, you know it’s real." Sherman then brought co-producer Sally Ayre-Smith on board to budget the film and oversee physical production. Sherman then moved to put the finance together, bringing on Australasian distributor Transmission Films who has a joint venture with Paramount Pictures. Odeon Films also came on Greek distributor, and with Australian government film investor Screen Australia, regional fund Film Victoria and some private equity, the film was ready to move into production. Shooting had to be completed in Mykonos in the short window of opportunity between the end of the summer peak tourist season and before the autumn set in and the island was deserted. The Australian casting was straightforward, as it brought back the favourite characters from "The Wog Boy". Vince Colosimo was integral as Steve's best mate Frank, the irrepressible womaniser going through his mid-life crisis. Also returning to the screen are Costas Kilias as language twisting shonky Tony the Yugoslav, Vince D'Amico as Mario (Frank's father and one time wrestling champion) and Tony Nikolakopoulos as the compo cheat, Theo. Alex Dimitriades was then cast as Mihali, the smooth talking Greek nightclub owner and Mykonos mover and shaker. Dimitriades had worked in the Wogboys stage show and brought his comedic skills to the role. Finding the right international cast was trickier. "The casting of a Greek actress was really important, but also the Italian actress. I was really adamant that we don’t have Australians doing funny voices," says Andrikidis. Athens born Zeta Makrypoulia, actress, model and television presenter who recently starred in the successful Greek films: "S.E.X "(Soula Ela Xana, 2009) and "Just Broke Up" (Molis Xorisa, 2008); brought her magic to the role of Zoe. "When we were lucky enough to come across Zeta in casting in Greece; we just knew that with her help we would elevate the film to a whole other level," says Giannopoulos. "Zeta Makrypoulia is the Nicole Kidman of Greece. She has starred in two of the most successful Greek films of the past three years." Andrikidis says the wonderful Italian lead Cosima Coppola was switched at the last minute. "Cosima was a surprise. I went to Rome and we tested six people for the role but the actress that we cast couldn’t make it on the date we needed, so we were suddenly under a lot of pressure to find an alternative quickly." "We cast Cosima without having the opportunity to test her. I had just seen her work on Italian TV in Italian and she spoke some English over the phone but then she arrived and she was amazing. That was a great piece of luck." American actor Kevin Sorbo, of Hercules fame, was cast as the chick-magnet, Pierluigi. "The part of Pierluigi was really difficult to cast because it required someone of a certain age group who still has the magnificent physique and presence so obviously Kevin Sorbo was the perfect fit," says Giannopoulos. "He does a terrific job with this character and it was just wonderful to have an actor who’s so well known and loved throughout the world on this film. It just gives the film another international dimension." Shooting "The Kings Of Mykonos" first began on the streets of Yarraville, in Melbourne’s inner west, in August 2009. Giannopoulos drove the original 1967 Valiant Regal Pacer from the first film over the Westgate Bridge to Yarraville village for the two day shoot. The first film was set in Yarraville and the opening scenes of the sequel are shot in the main streets, including the original Mario’s pizza shop. During the shoot, Giannopoulos was made a 'special ambassador', by the Yarraville village traders association for his efforts in promoting the suburb, a unique hub of the city. After wrapping the Melbourne shoot, the production crew flew straight to Greece to prepare for a six week shoot on the island of Mykonos. "The great thing about the film is that the script was written with specific locations in mind. It wasn’t like we had to go somewhere and try and make it work," says DOP Mark Wareham (TV'S "Murder Call", "The Informant" & "McLeod's Daughters"), who arrived in Mykonos a week and a half before shooting began. "Mark just captured the place in all its glory, that ethereal beauty of Greece," says five time Chicago International Film Festival Award winner, Andrikidis. "Every shot has the world behind it. When we did interiors, outside the windows the island was always there. In the nightclub you can see Mykonos lit up behind Zeta. The actors were working in the real world; it was the real police station or airport. Sometimes we’d have five thousand people get off a boat so every frame is populated with people, whereas in Australia we’d have nobody in shot because we couldn’t afford the extras, so visually it’s completely different from any Australian film. It has a very international look." Wareham shot in widescreen digital format. "We shot for a scope print 240, because that opened up the landscape's," Wareham explained. "That’s the aspect ratio they use on American comedies, which was something that Peter was keen on from the start and it gave it a different feel." "It was important to make it visually big," six time AFI Award winner Andrikidis added. "Those panorama shots of Mykonos that you get in postcards, that’s what people remember. The light is also completely different." Andrikidis revealed that the island got behind the film. "In the end, the mayor came on side and we got a lot of support from the locals and we presented them in a good light. It is a good showcase for Mykonos." Director Andrikidis gave the cast a lot of leeway. "Some of the biggest laughs are improvised scenes. Nick was rewriting on the run. A lot of it was free flowing. We wanted to give it an improvised feel." "The wonderful thing about Peter is that he gives you this huge canvas to work with, he doesn't limit you as an actor, he really enjoys watching actors explore the material," says Giannopoulos. "He let us ad lib, he let us pretty much do what we wanted and the only time he would come in was when he felt we were going too far or weren't doing enough." What's It All About?

Things haven’t been going well for Steve 'The Wog Boy' Karamitsis. His one true love, his pride and joy, a 1967 Valiant Pacer, has just been seized, along with all his assets by the Federal cops because he trusted the shady Tony the Yugoslav. To make matters worse, his best mate Frank has lost his touch with the ladies after a messy divorce. But fortune, as ever, favours the 'Wog Boy' when Steve discovers he has inherited a beach on the Greek resort island of Mykonos from an uncle he never met: a beach worth millions of Euros. As luck would have it, he has a few problems. It seems no-one wants him to get his hands on his beach: neither his family, the Greek Government, or the local land developer, Mihali. Have his days as a pick up king come and gone? Can Steve get the better of the Greeks? One thing’s for sure; on the party island of Mykonos, life sometimes can be a beach!

The Verdict "If you're a fan of "The Wog Boy" Nick Giannopoulos, Valiant Pacer's, the panorama of beautiful Greek islands, hot chicks and you like Giannopoulos's brand of Greek humour, "The Kings Of Mykonos Wog Boy2" will provide reasonable value. On all levels this 'sequel' exceeds the first film, mainly because the original wasn't all that big on anything. It was just goofey fun without much substance. While "The Kings Of Mykonos Wog Boy2" is funnier at times, there are no 'real big' laugh out loud moments. The cast standouts include Zeta Makrypoulia, Cosima Coppola and Australia's, Alex Dimitriades ("La Spagnola"). But the real star of this film is the Island Of Mykonos, whose beauty is exposed at every opportunity. The Wog Boy is back. Bigger and Better. It's worth having a look at! 3 STARS." The Production Team

Director Writers Producers Original Music Cinematography Film Editor Casting Art Direction Costume Design Production Manager

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Peter Andrikidis Chris Anastassiades & Nick Giannopoulos Nick Giannopoulos & Emile Sherman Amanda Brown & Nick West Mark Wareham Nicole LaMacchia Makis Gazis Adele Flere Jill Johanson Colleen Clarke

Who Is Playing Who?

Nick Giannopoulos Vince Colosimo Alex Dimitriades Zeta Makrypoulia Cosima Coppola Kevin Sorbo Costas Kilias Dimitris Starovas Galini-Maria Tseva Tony Nikolakopoulos Thomas Heyne Mario Hertel Manos Gavras Yannis Anastasakis Vasilis Glavris

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Steve Karamitsis Frank Mihali Zoe Miss Italy Pierluigi Tony the Yugoslav Tzimi Voula Theo Otto Dieter Kyriakos Priest Notary

Run Time 102 minutes Rated M [AUST] Copyright ©2010 - Paramount Pictures/Transmission Films - All Rights Reserved ©1999-2010 The Movie Pages & impact Internet Services. All Rights Reserved. Protected by Australian and International Copyright. Trademark Laws and Intellectual Property Rights apply.