| The Wog Boy | |
| Director: | Aleksi Vellis |
| Producer: | Nick Giannopoulos Aleksi Vellis |
| Starring: | Nick Giannopoulos Vince Colosimo Lucy Bell Abi Tucker John Barresi Stephen Curry Hung Le Geraldine Turner Tony Nikolakopoulos Derryn Hinch |
| Distributor: | 20th Century Fox (Australia & Germany) |
| Runtime: | 92 minutes |
| Country: | Australia Greece |
| Language: | English Greek Italian |
| Gross: | $11,449,799 |
The Wog Boy is a 2000 Australian comedy film directed by Aleksi Vellis and starring Nick Giannopoulos, Vince Colosimo, Lucy Bell, Abi Tucker, Stephen Curry, Tony Nikolakopoulos and Derryn Hinch.[1] [2] [3] Whilst the word wog is extremely derogatory in British English, in Australian English it may be considered non-offensive depending on how the word is used, due to reclamation and changing connotations.[4]
At the ARIA Music Awards of 2000 the soundtrack was nominated for Best Original Soundtrack Album.[5] It is the first part of Giannopoulous's eponymous Wog Boy trilogy, preceding (2010) and Wog Boys Forever (2022).
Steve (Nick Giannopoulos) is a first-generation Greek Australian. Steve is unemployed, but manages to get by, helping out here and there. His pride and joy is his VF Valiant Pacer. Whilst helping out a compensation-oriented neighbour, Steve has a minor car accident involving the Minister for Employment, played by Geraldine Turner. The net result of this encounter is twofold: Steve gets to meet Celia (Lucy Bell) whom he is instantly attracted to but who initially hates him, and Steve gets outed on national television by Derryn Hinch as the worst dole-bludger in Australia.
Steve manages to turn this around to his advantage, and becomes famous as The Wog Boy, spearheading a campaign to improve the employment status of the country. In the interim, he makes variable progress with Celia.
Steve (Nick Giannopoulos) is seen driving a dark blue 1969 VF Valiant hardtop during the movie, which was allegedly given to him by his father.During the film, it is said that the car's original engine was a 245-cubic-inch (4.0 L) 6-cylinder hemi, which was later replaced with an 8-cylinder engine.
The Australian Chrysler Valiant range of cars were often and sometimes still referred to as "Wog Chariots" or "The Greek Mercedes."
A soundtrack was released, composed by Cezary Skubiszewski. It featured the single "Breakin'... There's No Stoppin' Us" by Ilanda, which was used to promote the film.
The track "Get Tzatziki With It" was also in the film's promotional campaign, and is played in the actual movie itself. It was written by John Von Ahlen, Jaime Jimenez and Nick Giannopoulos[6] and recorded at Subterrane Recording Studio.
The Wog Boy premiered in Melbourne on 9 February 2000. It previewed on 180 screens over the weekend of 18 to 20 February and grossed $1.2 million in three days, the biggest ever preview grosses for an Australian film and enough to have ranked third at the Australian box office for the week.[7] It officially opened on 200 screens on 24 February and grossed $10 million in its first five weeks.[8] It went on to gross $11,449,799 at the box office in Australia, becoming the tenth highest-grossing Australian film of all time.[9] [8]
A sequel, , began production in October 2009 with Nick Giannopoulos and Vince Colosimo returning in the cast. The sequel was released in Australia on 20 May 2010.[10]
In June 2021, a third film Wog Boys Forever was released in October 2022.