In the first of his special end-of-year reports The Bug’s entertainment reporter reviews some of the big news stories he broke in  2022.

During 2022 I was proud to break numerous exclusive stories about the starring roles former prime minister Scott Morrison was being offered both before his government’s defeat at the May federal election which point to a possible life as an in-demand actor if and when he decides to leave politics.

One of the first stories I wrote was in February and exposed the top secret manoeuvrings aimed at bringing to fruition an Australian remake of the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock horror thriller Psycho. (main picture)

My film industry sources told me that producers working on the project were alarmed when Network Ten’s political editor, one of the Peter van Onselens, unknowingly came close to exposing full details of the film at the National Press Club.

The van Onselen had quizzed the then PM about supposedly private messages sent to fellow Liberals by former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian that described Morrison as a “psycho”.

But van Onselen – unlike me – did not know the context. He had merely discovered a small nugget of information about the project and had misinterpreted Berejiklian’s message as an attack on Morrison when all she was doing was using heavily coded messages to discuss the  new movie and her role in it.

I am sad to report that the Psycho remake is still stuck in post-production as Morrison – as an acknowledge marketing genius – has insisted on personally drafting its marketing plan but has yet to produce one.

Another exclusive this year was my report on moves by US movie producers to enlist Morrison to star in a new biopic about colourful US entertainer, the late Tiny Tim. (below)

The backers of the project told me they had been searching the globe for someone to fill the lead role and had settled on the then Australian PM after catching the episode of Australia’s  60 Minutes in which Morrison performed his ukulele rendition of April Sun in Cuba.

Their planned film was to tell the tale of the ukulele-playing Tiny Tim who shot to prominence in the late 1960s with his performance of Tiptoe Through the Tulips in his distinct falsetto voice.

Born Herbert Khaury in New York in 1932, Tiny Tim attracted a cult following for his renditions of songs from the early part of the 20th century, most notably from the turn of the century to the 1930s, and appeared on numerous TV shows and toured the US and the world until his death following a heart attack in 1996.

The backers of the biopic apparently saw and heard Mr Morrison’s musical talents during one of their regular internet searches for ukulele players.

I am sad to report that the Tiny Tim movie is still stuck in post-production as Morrison – as an acknowledge marketing genius – has insisted on personally drafting its marketing plan but has yet to produce one.

The year also saw me break the story of Australian auteur Baz Luhrmann’s work at a secret  location in Queensland filming a big-screen version of the hit 1960s US television sitcom Gilligan’s Island.

The big surprise was in the cast, with a number of then federal MPs taking on key roles including Morrison as the Skipper pairing with Josh Frydenberg as Gilligan. (below)

My industry sources told me Luhrmann had planned the Gilligan’s Island movie less as a comedy and more of a “dramedy”.

As one source put it: “Baz’s films have always had a deeper meaning behind them. He views the original premise of the 1960s TV series –  a disparate, and desperate, group of people marooned well away from civilisational and reality – as a metaphor for the post-election Liberals.”

I am sad to report that the Gilligan’s Island movie is still stuck in post-production as Morrison – as an acknowledge marketing genius – has insisted on personally drafting its marketing plan but has yet to produce one.