British heart-throb Clive Owen is expected to play the lead role in the comic drama which is a co-production from local movie producers Greg Brenman (Billy Elliot) and Tim White (Gettin' Square).

A PLANNED Australian independent film looks like it will achieve the nearly impossible task of selling US distribution rights to a major studio before a single frame of film has passed through the camera.

The producers of The Boys are Back in Town, the first film to be shot in Australia by director Scott Hicks since he made Shine, are known to be in negotiations with Miramax, although they will not confirm it.

The distribution powerhouse owned by the Walt Disney Company was established by Bob and Harvey Weinstein.

The Boys are Back in Town is a drama adapted by Allan Cubitt from British author Simon Carr's memoir about a sports writer who, in tragic circumstances, becomes a single parent of two boys from different marriages.

Adelaide-based Hicks has cast Clive Owen as the father and most of the Australian-British co-production will be filmed in Queensland from early next year. Only a small component will be shot in Britain.

Owen was recently seen in Australian cinemas in Children of Men and will appear opposite Cate Blanchett in the upcoming The Golden Age.

Local producer Tim White is working on The Boys are Back in Town with British producer Greg Brenman from Tiger Aspect, a big British television production house that also made the feature Billy Elliot.

BBC Films and Film Finance Corporation Australia have contributed finance.