Last Updated on May 15, 2025 by Angel Melanson
Jigsaw, Daybreakers and Fall 2 directors Peter and Michael Spierig (also known as the Spierig Brothers) are set to direct Headless, a contemporary re-imagining of the Headless Horseman mythology with nods to Mad Max and The Terminator, Deadline reveals today.
Written by Shane Armstrong (The Contents) and S.P. Krause (The Contents), Headless‘ plot synopsis reads as follows:
A rudderless hitchhiker and a driven woman avenging her family’s death must stop a motorcycle-riding semi-immortal ghoul that feeds off the carnage it causes on desert highways by decapitating it and getting its head far enough away, long enough, from its relentlessly pursuant still-living body.
Headless will be produced by industry vet Chris Brown (Daybreakers) for his Picture in Paradise, Martin Metz (Mandy) for Rosewood Pictures and Diana Le Dean (Sting) and developed with support from Screen Queensland.
Deadline note that Altitude has come aboard for international sales and will be presenting the project to buyers on the Cannes Croisette this week. Rialto has acquired distribution rights to the film for Australia (where production will kick off later this year) and New Zealand.
The Spierig Brothers' last movie, 2018's Winchester starring Helen Mirren, was a horror hit, making $44M global off a sub-$5 million budget.
The myth of the Headless Horseman has been adapted for film a number of times, most notably in Tim Burton's 1999 Sleepy Hollow, where the titular spirit was portrayed by Ray Park and Christopher Walken. No news yet of who will take up the reigns in Headless.
