Tumbrella

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water… Jaws is back. And this time he’s on the Great Barrier Reef. Well, sort of.

The World Heritage-listed reef will feature as the hunting ground for killer great white sharks in a new Australian film.

The Reef, filmed at Bowen, Hervey Bay and Fraser Island, sees four friends being terrorised by man-eating sharks after their boat capsizes on the reef.

The film, which is apparently based on a true story, shows how four friends are stalked by a man-eating great white shark.

It’s being billed (by us anyway) as Jaws meets Open Water, in which two divers were left behind by mistake and had to spend a night in the waters off Queensland. Most of the real shark footage from the original Jaws was actually filmed in South Australia.

The Reef has financial backing from the Queensland State Government, but some tourism operators aren’t impressed.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Rob Giason was concerned the $3.5 million film could give the wrong impression about the reef.

“The concerning issue for me is this piece of particular creative licensing actually distorts what reality is,” Mr Giason said.

Association of Marine Park Operators CEO Col McKenzie said previous movies, such as Open Water, which depicted the story of a couple circled by sharks on the reef after being left behind by their diving boat, had put off tourists.

“We know from the industry, any kind of shark attack, any kind that they air in the Jaws movies and things like that, there’s a drop off in inquiries within the marine tourism industry,” he said.

McKenzie described the movie as pure fantasy, as great whites are not known to venture any further north than Hervey Bay.

The Reef is still being filmed and is due for release in Australia next year.