THE US distribution rights to a film loosely based on the disappearance of Huddersfield backpacker Peter Falconio have been snapped up for £2m.
Australian slasher film Wolf Creek is set to debut at the Sundance Film Festival in the USA on January 24.
Vincent James, the step- father of Mr Falconio's girlfriend Joanne Lees, has already said he was angered by the film, saying the tragedy should not be turned into entertainment.
Director Greg Mclean confirmed that US distributor Dimension Films had bought the rights.
"It is absolutely awesome," he added.
Wolf Creek was made for £800,000 and is reportedly so grisly that some members of a test audience passed out.
Sundance Festival organisers say it is an Australian version of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
Dimension, an arm of Miramax Films, will distribute Wolf Creek in North America, most of Latin America, Spain, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the Benelux countries inn Europe.
Mr Mclean said: "It is a small Australian horror film that we finished just before the end of last year and the Dimension deal came together just before Christmas."
The story merges parts of the Falconio tragedy with the story of serial killer Ivan Milat. The bodies of Milat's seven victims were found in shallow graves in a forest near Sydney between 1992 and 1993.
Wolf Creek is described on the Sundance website as a shocking new breed of horror film. "What sets it apart from other thrillers is its craftsmanship," says the website.
Australian Bradley Murdoch, 46, is to go on trial accused of Mr Falconio's murder.
The 28-year-old backpacker, from Hepworth, disappeared in July, 2001, while on a remote road in Australia's Northern Territory.
Miss Lees was tied up, but managed to escape.
She flagged down a lorry driver several hours later.
