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Shock Horror! Dame Helen Mirren to film her first ever horror flick in Australia...almost 50 years after making her last movie Down Under

By Karishma Sarkari for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 17:56 EST, 5 September 2016 | Updated: 20:01 EST, 5 September 2016

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She's the Academy Award-winning actress best known for playing Queen Elizabeth II both on-screen and on-stage.

Now, Dame Helen Mirren is set to make the first horror flick of her career according to The Sydney Morning Herald, with the movie to be filmed in Australia early next year.

This will mark the 71-year-old's return Down Under for the first time in 50 years for a film, after working on Australian movie The Age Of Consent in 1968.

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Shock horror! Dame Helen Mirren is set to make the first horror flick of her career, with the movie Winchester to be filmed in Melbourne in March next year

The iconic star will play Sarah Winchester in the movie titled Winchester, which is set to roll cameras in Melbourne's Docklands Studios in March 2017.

Post-production will then take place in Queensland, another popular movie destination for Hollywood at the moment, with Thor and Pirates of The Caribbean recently made in the Sunshine State.

The news also comes hot on the heels of confirmation James Cordon and Rose Byrne will be filming the live-action movie Peter Rabbit in Sydney.

The movie will be directed by German-born Australian twin brothers Peter and Michael Spierig, with the Queensland-based writer-director team best known for Ethan Hawke's sci-fi mystery Predestination and Australian horror movie Undead.

Returning Down Under: This will mark the 71-year-old's return Down Under for the first time in 50 years for a film, after working on Australian movie The Age Of Consent in 1968 (pictured)

Change of pace: The Oscar-winning actress best known for playing Queen Elizabeth II both on-screen and on-stage but will play haunted heiress Sarah Winchester in the upcoming movie

In a statement announcing the news The Spierig Brothers said: 'Sarah Winchester was an eccentric pioneer, an inventor, a woman plagued by her family's legacy, we couldn't be more thrilled to have Helen Mirren bring this fascinating character to life.'

The tale follows the real life story of late-1800s millionaire heiress Sarah Winchester who, after the loss of her husband and child, believes she is haunted by the souls killed by the Winchester repeating rifle.

She works to construct a 160-room mansion, surrounded by hedges, to keep the spirits at bay.

'We couldn't be more thrilled to have Helen Mirren bring this fascinating character to life': Queensland-based director-director twin team The Spierig Brothers are thrilled with their casting

True story: The movie follows millionaire heiress Sarah Winchester who, after the loss of her husband and child, believes she is haunted by the souls killed by the Winchester repeating rifle

Keeping herself safe: The heiress works to construct a 160-room mansion, surrounded by hedges, to keep the spirits at bay

A San Francisco-based psychiatrist Eric Price is sent to evaluate the heiress's state of mind 'only to discover that Sarah's obsession may not be all that insane'.

The real mansion, located in San Jose, will also be used in filming after the bulk of production is done in Melbourne.

Winchester Mystery House is still considered one of the most haunted properties in the world.

The film does not have a release date as yet but is expected late 2017 at this stage.