‘Jeepers Creepers 3’ Updates: Casting Calls Cancelled, Causes Delay for British Columbia Filming; Director Victor Salva’s Pedophilia Conviction Resurfaces

‘Jeepers Creepers 3’ casting calls have been pulled out after warnings of director Victor Salva’s past convictions for pedophilia resurfaced. This caused delays for the scheduled filming on-location on British Columbia, Canada.

According to the Independent, a casting notice posted for the third installment in the ‘Jeepers Creepers’ cinematic series has been pulled out following alerts of Salva’s past child molestation conviction. Principal photography was scheduled for spring in British Columbia but it looks to be experiencing production setbacks after casting calls have been interrupted.

The latest casting notice posted on Breakdown Services was for the part of a 13-year old girl named by Addison who flees from an abusive stepfather to live with her grandmother. The role was to be played by an 18-year old.

The Union of British Columbia Performers issued a warning to those in the industry by publicizing the director’s sex offender past. The message read, “It has recently come to our attention that a casting breakdown has gone out for a future film entitled Jeepers Creepers III and that the director of the film, Victor Salva, was convicted of sexual misconduct in 1988.”

It continued, “The conviction allegedly resulted from misconduct involving a minor whom Mr Salva was directing at the time. At this time we would like to remind our members and their agents that, under Article A2702 (Safety and Welfare of a Minor) of the BC Master Production Agreement, a performer has the right to refuse work if they believe the nature of the work is unsafe.”

In 1988, Salva was convicted of oral sex with then 12-year old Nathan Forest Winters, who played the lead role in his horror film ‘Clownhouse’. According to The Guardian, Salva was sent to jail for three years and served 15 months. The director took a break from the filmmaking industry for the five years following his conviction but returned with 1995’s fantasy drama film ‘Powder’ as well as the popular ‘Jeepers Creepers’ series.

Winters himself went to the L.A. premiere of ‘Powder’ to hand out leaflets urging the public to boycott his abuser’s film. In turn, Salva made a public apology in 2006 by admitting his wrongdoings. He said, “I pled guilty to a terrible crime, and I’ve spent the rest of my life trying to make up for it… For almost 20 years, I’ve been involved with helping others, I’ve been in therapy, and I’ve made movies. But I paid my debt to society and apologised to the young man. And all I can hope is that people will give me a chance to redeem myself.”

‘Jeepers Creepers 3’ is an upcoming horror film scheduled to be released sometime in 2017. It is intended as the third installment in the film series that introduced Justin Long and Gina Philipps as siblings terrorized by a demonic entity known as the Creeper.

The first film earned $59.2 million worldwide against a production budget of $10 million upon its release in August 2001 while the sequel earned $63.1 million against a budget of $17 million following its release in August 2003.