In the crowded field of killer shark movies, 1999’s Deep Blue Sea lands somewhere in the middle. Its tale of genetically modified killer sharks (featuring LL Cool J) is pretty goofy, but it’s no Sharknado. It’s got at least one absolutely awesome moment though involving Samuel L. Jackson. You know the one. Anyhow, it seems the sharks are back for more in Deep Blue Sea 3.
Cards on the table, I had no idea there’d even been a Deep Blue Sea 2, so this threequel is something of a surprise. Apparently, the first sequel went straight-to-video in 2018 and doesn’t directly follow the plot of the 1999 original. Deep Blue Sea 3 will be a proper sequel to that though, building on the last film’s tale of genetically enhanced Bull Sharks that turn on their human masters.
Here’s the synopsis:
“Emma Collins, an eminent marine biologist, and her crew have set up a mid-ocean laboratory over a sunken island town in the ocean where they are observing the first known Great White mating area. Unfortunately, the enhanced Bull Sharks that escaped in Deep Blue Sea 2 are also there with their own evolutionary goal: cross-breeding with the bigger faster Great Whites. The mission’s patron, Richard Lowell, believes that the Bull Sharks contain the key to intelligence enhancement, which he secretly intends to sell for big profits. Now, Emma and her crew are trapped on crumbling stilt houses mere feet over the ocean, caught between predators above and below the water.”
Ah damn, the last thing we want is for the smart sharks to cross-breed with Great Whites! The trailer promises some crackin’ B-movie action with an environmentalist twist as they address climate change, man’s impact on the planet and the ethical quandaries inherent in genetically engineering giant, ravenous, super-intelligent sharks.
Lost and Goliath star Tania Raymonde will feature as the heroic marine biologist, with The Vampire Diaries’ Nathaniel Buzolic as her ex-boyfriend who seeks to profit from the sharks, though will inevitably end up eaten by them.
Deep Blue Sea 3 will release on digital on July 28th, 2020 and on Blu-ray the next month, on August 25th.
