Sony Sets Its Sights On Louis Leterrier For In The Deep

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, since sharks have apparently migrated to form weather patterns in the Sharknado franchise, along comes an action-thriller that looks set to put the toothsome terrors right back where they can scare us the most – between us and the shoreline. Such is the very tight premise of In The Deep, which Sony is apparently now courting director Louis Leterrier for.

The script for In The Deep comes with buzz already attached, as it landed squarely on both the 2014 Black List (the best unproduced scripts), and the 2014 Blood List (the best unproduced horror scripts), before being snapped up by Sony. It comes from screenwriter Anthony Jaswinski (Vanishing On 7th Street), and centres on the plight of a twenty-something woman who seeks to ease the pain of mourning her mother by surfing on an isolated beach. This idea of retreating to soggy seclusion soon loses its lustre, however, when she finds herself stranded on a buoy away from the shore, with a great white shark patrolling the space in between.

Lyn Harris and Matti Lesham of Weimaraner Republic Pictures are producing the project, and Harris explained to Deadline the resounding impact she hopes In The Deep will make under Leterrier’s stewardship.

“Louis’ take knocked us out and our intention is to elevate this above the genre, making [it] terrifying, but psychologically deep. It has the makings of an incredible survival story, but it also goes to the very core of fear on every level. It is a really frightening movie.”

For Lesham, the excitement stems from the style that Leterrier – who has previously directed The Transporter, The Incredible Hulk and Now You See Me – employs in his work.

“He’s a very visual director, and he’s got a very clear vision of what this will look like.”

Inevitably, the premise of In The Deep has already begun to draw comparisons with films other survival films, such as Gravity. But, if you are going to aspire to emulate an artistic project, you could do worse than to use an Academy Award-winning Alfonso Cuaron movie as a template. Moreover, we have here a female-led film project from a major studio – and that is certainly something worth paying attention to. The question is, which young starlet will Louis Leterrier strand on the buoy?