Kriv Stenders is set to follow-up hit film Red Dog with the Western Australian-set thriller Kill Me Three Times.
The new feature, set in a sun-drenched Australian surfing town, follows a young woman at the centre of three tales of murder, blackmail and revenge. Kill Me Three Times will be produced by former Screen NSW chief executive Tania Chambers, and Laurence Malkin and Share Stallings (Death At A Funeral, A Few Best Men).
In May 2012, when production on horror film Wolf Creek 2 was delayed, director Greg McLean was attached to direct the film. At that stage, Kill Me Three Times was going to star Alice Braga (who also starred in Wolf Creek) in the lead role, as well as Abbie Cornish, Ben Mendelsohn and Sullivan Stapleton. McLean is currently directing Wolf Creek 2 in South Australia.
Stenders' last feature, Red Dog, grossed more than $22 million at the Australian box office in 2011, and is the eighth-highest grossing Australian film of all time.
Meanwhile, WA-based Filmscope Entertainment is set to return with The Reckoning, a film about a detective on the trail of a killer and two missing teenagers whose video footage contains the identity of the murderer. Filmscope, comprised of producer Deidre Kitcher and writer/director John Soto, previously produced horror-thrillers Needle and Crush.
ScreenWest has supported both The Reckoning and Kill Me Three Times, which are set to begin production in early-2013. Son of a Gun and The Turning are also set to film in WA in 2013.
WA culture and the arts minister John Day said the WA film industry "is thriving and the multiple projects expected to film in Western Australia next year will provide strong industry development and the opportunity for our very talented practitioners to showcase their skills on national productions".
Contact this reporter at bswift@www.if.com.au or on Twitter at @bcswift.