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www.news.com.auHE conquered Hollywood with the Saw horror movie franchise - now Leigh Whannell has returned to Australia to star in a low-budget thriller.
The 30-year-old, who with best mate James Wan reportedly earned up to $15 million last year, starts work in the lead role in Dying Breed in Tasmania on Tuesday.
"It's an Australian genre thriller horror film, which I would really love to help cultivate," Whannell said during a break from rehearsals.
Dying Breed tells the story of four people conducting field research into the Tasmanian tiger who stumble across the descendants of a cannibal tribe.
Nathan Phillips, Melanie Valejo and Mirrah Foulkes are also in the film, which is being directed by Jody Dwyer and produced by Ambience Entertainment.
Shooting for Dying Breed, which has a budget of less than $3 million, will take place about an hour's drive from Cradle Mountain while some scenes will be shot in Melbourne.
"The guys making this film are really putting an area of Australia on the map that just hasn't been seen on film before," Whannell said.
Whannell and James Wan have carved a real niche for themselves in the horror film genre, with the massive international success of Saw.
The fourth instalment of the series is due for release in October.
The pair moved to Hollywood as relative unknowns in 2004 after making the first Saw film and were recently listed as the ninth richest Australian entertainers by BRW magazine, with estimated earnings of $15 million for the past year.
"On a surface level, life has changed in many ways, and not just monetary," Whannell said.
"My dream came true.
"I feel like someone who has been planning their whole life to win the Melbourne Cup and then they won it."
Despite his millions, Whannell doesn't lead a flamboyant lifestyle and still rents his apartment in LA.
"Buying a house would really be putting roots down in LA and I think I am not quite ready to make that commitment yet," he said.
Whannell is in Australia for two months but is contemplating moving back to Melbourne to clear his head.
"I need to move out of LA and Hollywood and all that stuff to really appreciate it and soak it in," he said.
As well as Dying Breed, Whannell is writing a script for a children's flick and an action movie.
He also played a support role opposite Kevin Bacon in Wan's upcoming action film Death Sentence.
