Eric Bana is back at the box office this weekend in new mystery drama 'The Dry'

HOLLYWOOD (KABC) -- Eric Bana is back at the box office this weekend in the mystery drama, "The Dry."

The film is already one of Australia's biggest hits ever. Now it's made its way to America.

In it, Bana plays a federal agent in Australia who heads back to his rural home town for a childhood friend's funeral. He agrees to stay on to investigate the case. Was it really a murder/suicide? During his investigation, he begins to suspect the death of a teenage friend many years ago is somehow connected.

"The Dry" is based on the novel of the same name by Jane Harper.

"Essentially, we've got a thriller here that needs to be solved," Bana said. "And it's in two different time lines and, you know, there's a bit of work for the audience to do in trying to figure out who did what, there's no doubt about it."

Big problems, it turns can, can happen in small towns.

"There's nowhere to hide. Everyone knows every bit of your history and your parents' history and perhaps your grandparents' history," Bana said. "And the notion of someone who has left for 25 years and has to return because of the funeral has a kind of like bad school reunion undertones to it and it really appealed to me."

He was not alone in those thoughts.

Director Robert Connolly said, "It's like a bit of a puzzle and you're trying to solve things and work things out."

I added, "And we know we're right until we're wrong."

Connolly laughed and said, "I love that. It's funny. I love that feeling at the movies of I'm going to try to work this out before the detective, you know? This detective's trying to work it out and he's smart but I'm smarter."

Bana, who's also a producer on the film, said they both loved the book and they wanted to make readers of the novel happy with their movie.

"It's like Australia's 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' trilogy," said Connolly, "So Eric and I have just begun to start discussing whether we can make another one."

That is the plan. "The Dry" is in select theaters, on digital and on demand now. It's rated "R."