Angelina Jolie gets exclusive use of athletics track at Blacktown International Sportspark

A movie directed by Hollywood star Angelina Jolie is set to get exclusive use of the athletics track at Blacktown International Sportspark from 25th November until 20th January next year - resulting in current users including junior athletes and the Western Sydney Wanderers will have to use different training locations during the two month period.

The Blacktown Advocate reports that the confidential movie deal is backed by venue owner Blacktown City Council and is expected to boost the local economy.

However, it means that the Wanderers and the local athletics club have to find another place to train at a crucial time in their seasons.

Wanderers Executive Chairman Lyall Gorman said the club, which will move operations to a nearby football field, would overlook the inconvenience to focus on the benefits.

Gorman told the Blacktown Advocate "while disappointed with the disruption to our training base during our season, we are understanding of the big picture this potential opportunity brings western Sydney,.

"If what we have heard about the production and the nature of some of the stars coming to Blacktown is true, then it is a good thing for both the local area and the broader region."

However, the Blacktown City Athletics Club is less happy at the prospect of its athletes having to travel will have to the next closest competition-standard synthetic running track - at Sydney Olympic Park - to train.

Club President Jessica Cobb stated "we have about 10 to 15 athletes who train there every week.

"On top of that, a lot of younger athletes are quite upset because they're going to have trouble getting their parents to drive them all the way to Homebush."

Actress and director Jolie is filming scents for her project Unbroken, the story of former US Olympic runner Louie Zamperini, a competitor at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and later a World War II prisoner of war.

Jolie's crew has secured exclusive access to the athletics track at western Sydney venue, with computer graphics likely to be used to transform the athletics track into the Berlin Olympic Stadium for the finished movie.

Other scenes for the movie have been filmed in Moreton Bay, Queensland, while sets have also been constructed on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour.

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