Like Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski’s award-winning three colours trilogy but with less existentialism and more pissing on lampposts, Red Dog is set to be extended into a trilogy.
A breakout for its creative team – director Kriv Stenders, producers Julie Ryan and Nelson Woss, screenwriter Daniel Taplitz and canine lead Koko, now in the big kennel in the sky due to heart failure – the film made more than $21 million at the Australian box office and won Best Film at the inaugural AACTA Awards.
Now its sequel-cum-origin-story, Blue Dog, is due to start shooting in the Pilbara region of WA later this year.
“Daniel [Taplitz, screenwriter] came up with a fresh concept which made us excited to bring the gang back together,” Woss said. “We can’t wait to go back to the Pilbara. It’s logistically challenging to take 60 or 70 people to a remote location and we could not do it without the support of the local community.”
The director agreed. “Last year Daniel had a humdinger of an idea for an origin story,” Stenders said. “It’s rare for an Australian filmmaker to get the chance to build on a brand and potentially to build a franchise.“
Woss is currently shooting a feature length documentary on the righteous kelpie who transitioned from a failed career as a show dog to achieve fame and fortune as the star of one of the most successful Australian films of the last decade, winning the Golden Collar canine acting award and being portrayed in the Archibald Prize.
Blue Dog will follow “the early events leading up to Red Dog’s discovery on the road to Dampier and his ultimate rise from ordinary dog to Australian legend.”
A third film, Yellow Dog, is also planned.
Via Inside Film
