The six-time Academy Award nominee, known as one of the finest representatives of the Australian New Wave, Weir chose Bulgaria for the film based on Slavomir Rawicz's novel The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom. The story follows the escape of several soldiers of different nationalities from the Siberian Gulag in 1939, requiring settings as diverse as crossing of the arctic, desert, and mountainous areas.

The producers of the movie Spitfire Pictures and Hammer Films have announced the casting of Ed Harris and Collin Farrell.

Still in early stages of preproduction, the executive producers intend to use Bulgarian technical crews both from Bulgaria based BUFO and Nu Image with an Australian crew joining them later.

The Way Back will also use some Bulgarian actors. The first casting took place on December 9.