There is more good news for the Roache-Turner brothers’ zombie action-thriller Wyrmwood: Apocalypse following its Australian premiere last week, with XYZ Films acquiring the global distribution rights and planning a US release of the film.
Written by Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turner, and directed by Kiah, Wyrmwood: Apocalypse is a sequel to their 2015 cult hit Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead.
The film follows special-forces soldier Rhys, played by lead actor Luke Mckenzie, who teams up with a group of super-powered survivors to save a young woman from death by military experimentation. The cast also includes Nick Boshier, Jake Ryan, Bianca Bradey, Tasia Zalar, Shantae Barnes-Cowan, and Jay Gallagher.
Producing are Bronte Pictures, Guerilla Films, Tristan Roache-Turner, and Blake Northfield.
Wyrmwood: Apocalypse will be one of XYZ’s first releases since launching its North American distribution division.
US distribution EVP James Emanuel Shapiro is set to work closely with XYZ president of international sales and distribution Tatyana Joffe to architect the worldwide release outside of Australia, where it will go out through StudioCanal.
“As soon as our head of international acquisitions Todd Brown sent word this film was available, I had to have it,” Shapiro said.
“It’s non-stop from the opening frame to the explosive last frame.
“We are tremendously excited to work on this film and want to make sure genre audiences know that not every horror film these days is sad and depressing.”
In a statement, Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turne said having XYZ Films come on board with the film felt like “coming home”.
“The crew at XYZ are unquestionably our favorite people in the business,” they said.
“They were among the first to believe in us back when we released our debut film, they did a cracking job launching it and have remained our good friends to this day.
“They are the best at what they do, always super passionate and, most importantly, they make filmmaking fun again.”
Their sentiments were echoed by Northfield, who said having XYZ represent the film provided them with peace of mind.
“XYZ is one of the best international sales companies in the world,” he said.
“Their exciting, edgy model and the recent hiring of James Shapiro brings them straight to the top in the North American distribution market.”
Wyrmwood: Apocalypse premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before being shown at Sitges last month. The film had its Australian premiere at the Brisbane International Film Festival and is due to be screened as part of the Sydney Film Festival this Saturday.