EXCLUSIVE: Constantin Film is remaking the West Virginia cannibals movie Wrong Turn, a franchise which kicked off in 2003 with a theatrical release via Fox and spawned another five films, the last being in 2014. The franchise’s creator Alan McElroy has returned to pen the script, and Mike P. Nelson, who recently helmed Orion Classics’ sci-fi thriller The Domestics, is directing.

In the Wrong Turn movies, various families of deformed cannibals hunt down folks in West Virginia. The original movie, which made close to $30M at the global B.O. off a $12.6M budget, starred Eliza Dushku, Jeremy Sisto and Emmanuelle Chriqui. The mainstay in all six movies has been one cannibal known as Three Finger.

The updated version is described as a timely and topical meditation on society and its issues. A cross-country hiking expedition puts a group of friends in the land of an inclusive society, where they soon discover they are under a different rule of law, and may not be the victims they thought they were.

Constantin Film’s Robert Kulzer will produce, and Martin Moszkowicz will executive produce. Producer Robert Kulzer said, “Alan’s re -interpretation of his own work and Mike’s vision are a frightening reflection of our world today: one person’s American dream is another’s worst nightmare.”

Mike Nelson ICM

McElroy has built a career in the genre sphere, beginning with Halloween 4 script. He went on to write the cult classic Spawn, an early draft of the billion-dollar franchise Resident Evil, Tekken, and recently episodes of The Vampire Diaries and The Night Shift. He is repped by Gersh and Writ Large.

The Domestics marked Nelson’s solo feature directorial debut and the pic starred Kate Bosworth. He is represented by ICM, Writ Large, and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.

John Papsidera, known for Dunkirk, Westworld and Jurassic World, among many others, is casting the film. He previously worked with Nelson on The Domestics.