Gale Anne Hurd's Valhalla Entertainment and Universal Cable Productions with sibling Matchbox Pictures will shoot Hunters, a 13-episode aliens crime drama, in Melbourne next year.
Based on Whitley Strieber’s novel Alien Hunter, the series will follow a decorated Philadelphia police officer whose wife disappears. This leads the protagonist to a secret government unit assembled to hunt a group of ruthless terrorists – shadowy figures that may or may not be from this world.
The vast majority of the cast and crew is expected to be Australian. Natalie Chaidez (Heroes) is writing the screenplay and will executive produce with Hurd.
The executive producer of The Walking Dead and The Terminator trilogy, Hurd was in Melbourne for the Screen Forever conference.
The series, which will premiere in the US on the SyFy Channel in 2016, will shoot at Docklands Studios and other locations around Melbourne. A mid-2015 start is likely.
Film Victoria CEO Jenni Tosi said the production had been secured through Film Victoria with support from the Victorian Government.
UCP with Jeff Hayes and Brett Popplewell is producing Childhood’s End, a miniseries for the Syfy Channel which starts filming in Melbourne next month.
“We are thrilled that Universal Cable Productions has recognised the many attributes of the Victorian screen industry and has again chosen Melbourne as the location for its next series," said Tosi.
UCP executive VP Mark Binke said, “We have had a very productive and pleasant experience working with the Victorian Government getting Childhood’s End off the ground and we head into production in a few weeks.
“It was a natural choice for us to come back to Victoria with Hunters, which is one of our highest profile projects. We look forward to growing our relationships with Melbourne’s creative community and to continue collaborating with the team at Film Victoria."