We’re thrilled to have Helen Mirren working her Academy Award winning magic in our sound stages.

It was announced on March 15 that principal photography had commenced on the supernatural thriller Winchester, in which Mirren plays the starring role.

(Credit: Trevor Leighton/helenmirren.com)

Mirren plays firearm heiress Sarah Winchester, who was convinced she was haunted by the souls killed at the hands of the Winchester repeating rifle.

Alongside Mirren, who won an Oscar for The Queen, the film stars Jason Clarke (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Zero Dark Thirty), Sarah Snook (The Dressmaker, The Glass Castle), and Angus Sampson (Insidious, Fargo).

Producer Tim McGahan (Blacklab Entertainment) and writer-director twins Michael and Peter Spierig are on a return visit to Docklands Studios Melbourne – they were here in 2013 making the Ethan Hawke thriller, Predestination.

Winchester will shoot later in the year on location at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California.