Simon Pegg begins Kill Me Three Times shoot

Principal photography has begun this week on Kriv Stenders’ crime thiller Kill Me Three Times in and around Perth and the southwest region of Western Australia.

The feature stars Simon Pegg, most recently seen in Star Trek Into Darkness and The World’s End, alongside Sullivan Stapleton, Alice Braga, Bryan Brown and Callan Mulvey.

New additions to the cast include Teresa Palmer, who starred opposite Nicholas Hoult in zombie romcom Warm Bodies, and Australian TV actor Luke Hemsworth, following his younger brothers Chris and Liam onto the big screen.

With an original screenplay by James McFarland, the film is produced by Laurence Malkin and Share Stallings, the team behind Death At A Funeral and A Few Best Men; and Tania Chambers, the former CEO of Screen New South Wales.

Kill Me Three Times takes place in an Australian surfing town, where a young singer (Braga) is the thread that binds three tales of murder, blackmail and revenge. Pegg plays a mercurial assassin, who is hired by her wealthy husband (Mulvey) - but there is more than one person gunning for her.

Stapleton has been cast as a gambling addict that attempts to pay off his debts through a risky life insurance scam, whilst Palmer plays a small town Lady Macbeth who masterminds the scheme.

Brown, a corrupt cop, also tries to get his cut and Hemsworth portrays Braga’s love interest, a local surfer who hopes to rescue the young woman from Pegg’s telescopic sights.

Pegg said: “Kill Me Three Times is a great script and the chance to work with Kriv Stenders in Perth made the whole thing an opportunity I did not want to miss out on.”

Producer Malkin said: “We’ve been searching for a film like Out of Sight, where flawed but human characters manipulate, murder and make love to each other in really fun and suspenseful ways.

“James’ script struck just the right chord, surrounding the emotional core with action, romance and dry humor. We’re thrilled that Kriv and this impeccable cast are going to breath life into an immensely satisfying and universal story.”  

Cargo Entertainment handles international sales and WME is repping the film in North America.

It is financed by Screen Australia, ScreenWest, Jake Film Finance, Media House Capital and the Melbourne International Film Festival’s MIFF Premiere Fund.

Executive producers are Media House Capital’s Aaron L. Gilbert, Jake’s Joan Peters, Azurite Capital’s Jack Drewe, Jed Weintrob, Ian Gibbins, and Bryce Menzies. Co-executive producers are Margot Hand and Patrick Murray.

Hopscotch Entertainment One is releasing the film in Australia and New Zealand.