A film about Australian mass murderer Martin Bryant is currently in production in Geelong, Victoria, Stan announced on Monday.
NITRAM, which is Bryant’s first name spelt backwards, comes from director Justin Kurzel and writer Shaun Grant.
The pair previously teamed up on Stan’s True History of the Kelly Gang, starring George MacKay and Russell Crowe. Kurzel also has MacBeth, Snowtown, and the Assassin’s Creed movie to his name.
Bryant, who murdered 35 people and injured 23 others in a mass shooting at Port Arthur, Tasmania, in 1996, will be played by American Caleb Landry Jones.
Landry Jones is an actor and musician best known for his roles in Get Out and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. He also starred as Banshee in X-Men: First Class.
The rest of the main cast is rounded out by Aussie actors, including Judy Davis (The Dressmaker), Essie Davis (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries), and Anthony LaPaglia (Lantana, Without A Trace).
The streaming service says the film will focus on the events leading up to the massacre in an attempt to understand why and how the atrocity occurred.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, NITRAM will not depict the massacre, or explicitly name Bryant.
Other characters have also been given fictional names or titles.
In a statement released on Monday, Stan Chief Content Officer Nick Forward said he was pleased the Aussie streaming service had linked up with Kurzel and Grant again.
“We have complete faith in the NITRAM team’s creative vision and ability to handle the film’s subject matter with sensitivity and respect,” he said.
NITRAM will premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival next year, after receiving funding through the MIFF Premiere Fund.
As you can expect, it’ll also premiere on Stan.
The announcement comes after Stan recently premiered After The Night, a four-part documentary series chronicling the true story of Eric Edgar Cooke, one of Australia’s most notorious serial killers.
After The Night, Stan’s first original true crime series, is streaming now.
