Prepare for another deep dive into shark-infested waters, as THR has confirmed that 47 Meters Down is getting a sequel, appropriately titled 48 Meters Down.
Grossing $44 million domestically and an additional $9 million globally on a $5.5 million budget, the success of 47 Meters Down has truly been unprecedented. The summer 2017 shark thriller’s success is even more remarkable when considering how at one point the movie wasn’t even set for a theatrical release; last year, 47 Meters Down was just a week away from being released straight-to-DVD when Dimension Films sold the rights to Entertainment Studios, who clearly saw greater potential for the film. As of now, 47 Meters Down is the highest-grossing independent film of the year.
The film followed two sisters, played by Mandy Moore and Claire Holt, who plummet 47 meters down to the ocean floor when a cage dive goes wrong. The pair is terrorized by great white sharks moving around the area and must find a way to escape before they run out of air.
The sequel’s location will move from Mexico to Brazil and center around a group of girls “looking for adventure in the coastal metropolis of Recife. Hoping to get off the well-worn tourist trail, they hear about some hidden underwater ruins only to find that the turquoise waves of their secret Atlantis aren’t completely uninhabited.”
Co-writer and director of the first film, Johannes Roberts, is set to return for the sequel, as will his writing partner Ernest Riera. The UK’s Fyzz Facility is set to produce and finance the project once again.
The Fyzz Facility’s James Harris made a statement about the sequel, initially expressing the company’s delight over 47 Meters Down’s strong theatrical performance. He continued, “48 Meters Down will take the claustrophobia of cave diving and the thrill of shark encounters and move everything to the next level.”
Mike Runagall of Altitude Film Sales, a company that helped sell 47 Meters Down and will be seeking Toronto buyers for the sequel, promised that the next installment “will ratchet up the thrills and spills to a whole new level.”
