Jolie to direct film in Australia

Angelina Jolie in Tokyo ahead of a screening of her directorial debut 'In the Land of Blood and Honey', on July 29, 2013 (AFP/File)

Sydney (AFP) – Hollywood A-lister Angelina Jolie will direct her new film "Unbroken" in Australia, using Sydney and rural parts of New South Wales state as locations, it was announced Tuesday.

The World War II movie is only Jolie's second foray into directing, after the critically-acclaimed 2011 movie "Land of Blood and Honey", and the actress has been in Sydney with her children in recent weeks scouting locations.

NSW deputy premier Andrew Stoner said the Universal Pictures production would inject millions of dollars into the state???s economy and was expected to create 300 jobs for crew alone, with more for cast and extras.

"This great news confirms NSW's international status as Australia's premier location for large-scale film production, and demonstrates the world-class standards of our film production industry," he said.

Unbroken, based on the best-selling book by Laura Hillenbrand, follows the incredible life of Olympian and war hero Louis Zamperini.

Along with two other crewmen, he survived in a raft for 47 days after a WWII plane crash, only to be caught by the Japanese Navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.

The book sat atop The New York Times bestseller list for more than 146 consecutive weeks and is one of the best-selling non-fiction titles since the list began in 1942.

The film will feature Jack O'Connell (300: Rise of an Empire) as Louis Zamperini plus rising stars Garrett Hedlund (TRON: Legacy), Domhnall Gleeson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) and Finn Wittrock (All My Children).

It will be the latest in a series of large-scale production wins for New South Wales, with other recent successes including "The Wolverine", "The Great Gatsby", and "Lego".