‘Sting’ – First Look at Arachnophobia Horror Movie Featuring Practical Spider Effects from WETA!

Bloody Disgusting has learned this week that production has wrapped in Sydney, Australia on Kiah Roache-Turner’s Sting, inspired by one of humanity’s greatest fears: SPIDERS.

The film stars Ryan Corr (House of the Dragon, The Water Diviner), Alyla Browne (Three Thousand Years of Longing, Nine Perfect Strangers), Penelope Mitchell (Hellboy), Robyn Nevin (Top of the Lake), Noni Hazlehurst (The End) and Jermaine Fowler (Retreat).

One cold, stormy night in New York City, a mysterious object falls from the sky and smashes through the window of a rundown apartment building. It is an egg, and from this egg emerges a strange little spider…

The creature is discovered by Charlotte, a rebellious 12-year-old girl obsessed with comic books. Despite her stepfather Ethan’s best efforts to connect with her through their comic book co-creation Fang Girl, Charlotte feels isolated. Her mother and Ethan are distracted by their new baby and are struggling to cope, leaving Charlotte to bond with the spider.

Keeping it as a secret pet, she names it Sting.

As Charlotte’s fascination with Sting increases, so does its size. Growing at a monstrous rate, Sting’s appetite for blood becomes insatiable. Neighbours’ pets start to go missing, and then the neighbours themselves. Soon Charlotte’s family and the eccentric characters of the building realise that they are all trapped, hunted by a ravenous supersized arachnid with a taste for human flesh… and Charlotte is the only one who knows how to stop it.

Cornerstone is handling worldwide sales and distribution and STUDIOCANAL will release in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Benelux. Additional deals include Lucky Red (Italy), Diamond Films (Latin America, Spain, Portugal), Nordisk (Scandinavia), Kinoswiat (Poland), Pasatiempo Pictures (Baltics, CIS), Karantanija (Ex-Yogoslavia), Italia (Middle East), Filmfinity (South Africa) and Terry Steiner International (airlines).

Sting is produced by Jamie Hilton and Michael Pontin via See Pictures together with Pictures in Paradise’s Chris Brown. Additional finance from create NSW, cumulous VFX and Spectrum Entertainment. Five-time Academy Award® Winner Weta Workshop, led by Creative Director Richard Taylor (Blade Runner 2049, King Kong, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) created the physical effects out of their workshop in New Zealand. They have been recently working on Scott Walker’s The Tank which Cornerstone is overseeing worldwide.

Roache-Turner’s earlier films include 2015’s Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead and which premiered at Fantastic Fest in Austin. His follow-up feature, Nekrotronic, starring Monica Bellucci, premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. Wyrmwood: Apocalypse, won the Audience Award at the 2021 Sydney Film Festival.

Alison Meese SVP U.K. acquisitions & production STUDIOCANAL comments; “We fell for Kiah’s wildly effective script which, united with his inventive direction, WETA’s unbeatable creature FX work and the near universal primal fear of spiders, we’ve got a treat on our hands for horror audiences across the STUDIOCANAL territories.”

CEO of Screen Australia Graeme Mason said, “With a bold vision and impressive script, this talented team have crafted more than just a creature feature but also a powerful emotional drama. There is no denying that the horror genre has such a passionate global fanbase and I have no doubt this film will engage – and thrill – audiences around the world.”

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