ALTITUDE HIGH ON WOLF CREEK 3; RACHELE WIGGINS TO DIRECT

CANNES: Global sales agent Altitude Films has secured Wolf Creek 3 for the worldwide market (excluding Australia and New Zealand), it was announced overnight. Launched as part of the company’s Marche du film slate, the third bigscreen instalment of the popular serial killer franchise will see John Jarratt reprise his role as iconic villain ‘Mick Taylor’.

Making her feature directing debut will be Rachele Wiggins, one of the local industry’s most respected production designers and producers. Her past credits include overseeing design elements on the features A Night of Horror: Volume 1 (2015), Event Zero (2017) and Skinford: Chapter 2 (2018) as well as an extensive short-film roster; as a producer, she has shepherded the acclaimed shorts Slice of Life (2019), Brolga (2019) and Sammy (2019) and the anthology pic, Deadhouse Dark (2019). In 2020, the stylish horror short Ciere, her long-gestating directorial calling-card, was released (see below).

The original script, by fellow feature debutant Duncan Samarasinghe, follows an American family undertaking their dream trip to the outback, a journey that soon draws the attention of Jarratt’s notorious serial killer. A horrific fight-for-survival ensues as the two children escape, only to be hunted by Australia’s most iconic bigscreen psycho.

Creator Greg McLean, director of the 2005 original and its 2013 follow-up, will produce the third film under his Emu Creek Films shingle, with collaborators Bianca Martino (The Darkness, 2016) and Kristian Moliere (The Babadook, 2014). Cameras are set to roll in South Australia in late 2021.

“We couldn’t be more excited about the creative team we’ve assembled to realise the next chilling chapter in the Wolf Creek franchise,” said McLean, via press release. “Duncan’s compelling, suspense-filled script combined with Rachele’s exciting directorial vision for the film will deliver a horror roller-coaster ride sure to delight genre fans around the world.” 

It is unclear at this stage how the third film will align at all with franchise canon established over two seasons of the popular television spin-off ‘Wolf Creek’, a local hit for streaming service Stan and profitable international property for Emu Creek, or the two novels that explored the formative years of Taylor’s unhinged psychology.

Altitude Film Sales has exhibited a tremendous faith in the Australian sector with a 2021 Marche du film line-up that also boasts a new Sam Worthington pic, Transfusion, to be helmed by Matt Nable, and the Oz-shot Zac Efron thriller, Gold, co-starring Susie Porter and directed by Anthony Hayes. The slate will be spruiked at the Cannes Online market by Altitude’s Mike Runagall, Vicki Brown, Olivier Brunskill and Karina Gechtman.

CIERE from Rachele Wiggins on Vimeo.