Berlin: StudioCanal Swoops on Spider Horror ‘Sting’ as First Image Is Revealed

StudioCanal has taken multiple territories on Sting, the upcoming arachnophobia horror movie from writer/director Kiah Roache-Turner that has just wrapped production in Sydney.

The film — for which a first image has also been revealed — 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).

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Sting was co-financed by Align and marks its second collaboration with sales company Cornerstone. They worked together previously on Good Luck To You, Leo Grande. The film has also received a major production investment from Screen Australia.

Cornerstone is handling worldwide sales and distribution on Sting, which StudioCanal has acquired for the U.K., 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).

In Sting, on 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. Neighbors’ pets start to go missing, and then the neighbors themselves. Soon Charlotte’s family and the eccentric characters of the building realize 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.

Sting is produced by Jamie Hilton and Michael Pontin via See Pictures together with Pictures in Paradise’s Chris Brown, with additional financing from create NSW, cumulous VFX and Spectrum Entertainment.  Five-time Oscar 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.

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