When a movie gets turned into a TV series, it’s usually because the film was a massive success, or is part of a huge franchise. You don’t often see violent, low-budget horrors getting the small screen treatment, but that’s what could happen with the Australian cult fave Wolf Creek films, which may get developed for the new Australian streaming service Stan. Get your wallets out, Netflix and Amazon, and let’s make sure the U.S. gets in on this as well.
The project, which is currently under consideration by Stan execs, would be a sequel of sorts to Wolf Creek 2, which came out in 2014, nine years after the original, which took in over $27 million worldwide on a $1 million budget. The films revolve around backpackers and more who end up in the Australian outback where John Jarratt’s sadistic Mick Taylor is there to make their lives (and deaths) as miserable as possible. I don’t want to ruin the movies for people who haven’t seen them, but Taylor is the star of the show here, and a big part of whether or not this potential series will work centers on his involvement.
Thankfully, this isn’t some fan of the film putting it together, but writer/director Greg McLean himself, who is teaming up with Peter Gawler, writer on the hit Australian crime drama Underbelly, along with producers Greg Haddrick and Felicity Packard. McLean also co-wrote two prequel novel tie-ins to the films, Wolf Creek: Origin and Wolf Creek: Desolation Game, both of which were published in 2014, so he’s obviously invested in this franchise. However, it sounds like he’ll be toning down the gory torture for something more narrative-friendly for the series. Here’s how McLean described the new angle, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The films work in a very particular way and they’re very much horror; TV is more of a suspense thriller…There has been a push and pull with the past and future. The idea of doing a rich and detailed storyline separate to those, in TV, has been amazingly fun.
He goes on to say his aim in teaming with the Underbelly squad was to create TV that was “high suspense, thrilling, crime, dark and emotionally compelling.” Better to go for it all than to aim for too little. I guess that means we wouldn’t be getting scenes like this.
There’s no telling when Stan will make an announcement on the future of Wolf Creek. But for now, how about a trip Down Under?
