A large property outside Dural in north-west Sydney has been transformed into a post-apocalyptic world to accommodate the latest installment of the Roache-Turner brothers’ Wyrmwood franchise.
Now in its third week of production, Wyrmwood: Apocalypse follows special-forces soldier Rhys, played by lead actor Luke Mckenzie (reprising his role from the first film), who teams up with a group of super-powered survivors to save a young woman from death by military experimentation.
The horror, a sequel to Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead, will also feature Nick Boshier, Jake Ryan, Bianca Bradey, Tasia Zalar, Shantae Barnes Cowan, and Jay Gallagher.
Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turner wrote the script, with the former also directing. Bronte Pictures are co-producing with the brothers’ Guerilla Films.
Bronte Pictures CEO Blake Northfield told IF his association with Kiah and Tristian started outside of the film industry.
“Kiah and I both used to work at (swimwear company) Aussiebum over a decade ago, and then he and Tristian went off to do the first Wyrmwood and I started Bronte Pictures,” he said.
“We both wanted to find a project to do together because after you do a few films, you just want to work with your friends.
“Our model with Bronte aligned with what they were trying to do with Wyrmwood, which was to bring it back to the original grassroots, creating that family environment and with a lower budget that was still able to achieve what the script needed.”
The seven-week shoot is being completed with the goal to have the film shown at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival; the Roache-Turner brothers’ most recent film, Nekrotronic, premiered at the festival in 2018.
Kiah said the project was the culmination of a lengthy creative process.
“We started filming the first feature in 2010, released it in 2015, made our viral proof of concept for the sequel in 2017, and now, after years working on the script and doing the hard yards to get the production up and pumping again, are beyond excited to be coming back into this world again in 2021,” he said.
Tristan, who is also a producer on the project, described the film as the “most badass, action-zombie-adventure film to ever come out of Australia”.
“When I imagine the Wyrmwood world, I see a heroic figure in dusty, blood-stained battle armour, standing atop an armoured caravan, pumping rounds into a shotgun, aiming at the head of the closest zombie and blowing it clean off.”