We haven’t seen the last of Mick Taylor. Greg Mclean is mulling ideas a for third feature about the exploits of the serial killer played by John Jarratt as well as developing the Wolf Creek TV series for streaming service Stan.
Mclean tells IF he may produce the third movie while entrusting the directing to one of Australia’s rising genre directors.
He’s working on several concepts before deciding on the writing team and says the next edition will take a “left-hand turn” after the action-chase elements of Wolf Creek 2.
Mclean is encouraged by the audiences' responses to WC2 and the strategy of releasing the film in the US on a limited number of screens and on premium VOD, followed by standard VOD and DVD.
While he hasn’t seen the final US figures he says, “Everyone was pretty happy with the business." He’d be willing to pursue a similar distribution approach in the US for the third chapter, noting that it’s hard now for indie films of any origin to secure wide theatrical release.
By comparison, The Weinstein Co. launched the first Wolf Creek on more than 1,700 screens in 2005, grossing a healthy $US16.2 million.
“The way films are being distributed has changed so much in the past four or five years,” he says. “Cinema release is a rarefied space. It’s unusual for a horror film to go to a festival and sell for more than $1 million. A film is successful these days if it is sold to every territory in the world.”
Mclean’s Emu Pictures is developing the 6-part series with Screentime’s writer/producer Peter Gawler, writer Felicity Packard and executive producer Greg Haddrick.
Packard is writing the pilot which he will direct later this year, assuming Stan gives the greenlight, and he may direct the whole series if his schedule permits.
Jarratt has agreed to reprise his role. Asked how the creative team intends to adapt a horror movie into a TV-friendly show accessible for general audiences, Mclean says, “It will be bold and original and creatively we will swing for the fences.”
Given the global recognition of the Wolf Creek brand, Screentime MD Bob Campbell says the material is ripe for international pre-sales or the participation of an international co-production partner and he believes the series has franchise potential.
Mclean concurs, “We are concentrating on the first series but there is a lot of scope to keep going.”