When it comes to the many subgenres in horror, one with perhaps the biggest uphill battle is the shark thriller, or sharksploitation if you prefer. We can all debate what’s the greatest slasher movie, the scariest haunted house movie, the creepiest killer kid flick, but in the realm of underwater horror movies, there is no debate. The conversation begins and ends with Steven Spielberg’s seminal 1975 blockbuster Jaws. Undeniably one of the best movies ever made, it’ll be king of this admittedly lean subgenre long after we’re all gone. But just because you can’t unseat the king doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still give it your all, which is why this has been such an enjoyable, not to mention thriving, pocket of horror cinema. Being devoured by a shark is always going to be a terrifying idea, which is why we still love soaking up these movies. While a debate can be conducted about which shark thrillers can even rise to the occasion of holding one of Jaws’ smaller teeth, one film that came out not too long ago absolutely deserves to be in the conversation: The Shallows, the 2016 summer hit starring Blake Lively from director Jaume Collet-Serra. A sturdy, entertaining self-contained suspense flick that gets the job done, The Shallows is surely to be one of the very first titles to pop up when the conversation turns to shark movies not named Jaws. But how did we get lucky enough in the first place to swim in its wake? Hold your seagull pal close and put on your wet suit – or take it off, if you prefer – because we’re going to dive in and find out What Happened to The Shallows.
The Shallows began life as a spec script from writer Anthony Jaswinski titled In the Deep. The screenplay landed on 2014’s Hollywood Black List, the compilation of best un-produced screenplays in town. It wouldn’t remain unproduced very long, as by September 2014 there was a fierce bidding war over the script being waged by most of the major studios, including Warner Bros., Fox, and Paramount. In the end, Sony’s Columbia Pictures purchased the screenplay for a hefty sum. Or should we say “chum?” No, we probably shouldn’t. Cut to March 2015 when it was announced In the Deep had a director circling: Louis Leterrier, best known at the time for directing Incredible Hulk and the Clash of the Titans remake. Apparently, Louis had a take that – quote – knocked the producers out, and it looked for a moment like it was going to be a very good match. But only a few short months later, in June of 2015, it was reported Louis had dropped out of the project. The reason being the budget he was initially promised was drastically reduced, and In the Deep no longer resembled the movie he had signed up for only a couple months prior. In short, the usual “creative differences.”
With Louis out of the picture, Sony had to find a new captain of the ship. Only a few weeks after they lost Leterrier, Sony allowed Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra to climb aboard. The former commercial director was known to horror fans as the helmer behind House of Wax and Orphan, but at the time was best recognized as Liam Neeson’s favorite collaborator, having directed Unknown, Non-Stop and Run All Night consecutively for the star. Now he was returning to the genre that put him on the map, albeit In the Deep was a much different kind of horror flick than his previous two.
So now with that chair filled, the search was on for a star – a young woman who could hold her own against a killer CGI shark and carry the entire movie on her shoulders, as she’s in practically every frame of the picture. Two months after Collet-Serra signed on, it was announced that Blake Lively was joining In the Deep, although a scheduling conflict almost halted the plan because she was filming a Woody Allen movie at roughly the same time. The conflict was worked out, and the 28-year-old former Gossip Girl star was officially signed on.
Aside from the obvious appeal of being the main – hell, practically only – actor in a thriller from a major studio, one reason Lively decided to headline the movie was because her hubby, Ryan Reynolds, had similarly tackled a film that featured him in every single scene: Buried, which sees Reynolds spend every moment on screen inside of a coffin. Lively said at the time that Reynolds’ turn in that claustrophobic thriller had inspired her to try her hand at a role that had her front in center the entire time. Buried had been a very challenging but rewarding production for Reynolds, so Lively was hoping she’d have as fulfilling experience on the shark movie.
Said shark movie underwent a title change sometime between Lively’s casting and the start of production, as Sony was now calling it The Shallows. So where was The Shallows going to be shot? It was obviously apparent that shooting the film on the actual ocean was not going to work – just ask Spielberg how much fun that is – so the decision was made to shoot the majority of the film in a tank, with some location work being done on a pristine beach that would look for all the world like paradise. Originally, there was an idea to shoot The Shallows on a beach near Galveston, Texas – which is where the main character is from – but for safety reasons that idea was squashed. It might have been for the best, however, as the production eventually found their little piece of heaven in the form of Lord Howe Island, a two hour flight from Sydney, Australia. Lord Howe is a national park and eco-tourism resort that’s home to only a few hundred people and many different species of bird and fish alike, so at the very least paparazzi was not going to be a problem.
But the place is so cut off from human civilization that there’s barely any wi-fi, cars, or any of the other standard necessities one needs to make a major motion picture. Columbia Pictures had to bring almost everything they required to this little speck of paradise without disturbing a single birds’ nest, which naturally proved difficult. Because of a restriction on cars or buses, most cast and crew had to bike or walk to the set every day. Add to that, Lord Howe has an unpredictable microclimate, forcing the production to hope and pray that they’d have sunny skies to work with for at least a while before a storm suddenly burst upon them, disrupting proceedings.
The production even brought in their own rock, the one that Blake finds herself stranded upon for the majority of the film’s runtime. They had to wait approximately eight days to plant it in the ocean because the water was too rough and dangerous. When they finally had the all-clear, the rock was held to the bottom of the ocean floor via cement blocks. Blake would be sitting on the rock for hours in the rough waters while the production got the shots they needed, an experience she eventually admitted was surprisingly soothing.
The most difficult scene to shoot according to the director is one you might not expect. Before everything goes to hell, Lively makes the acquaintance for two friendly surfers who bob several dozen yards away. Thanks to the motion of the ocean, shooting this seemingly innocuous scene was a thorn in Collet-Serra’s side, because neither Blake nor the camera could stay still long enough to get the shots needed. Divers had to be dispatched to hold onto Blake as best the could to steady her, lest she float away into the sea, while grips had to hold the camera rig so it didn’t get out of control.
Naturally, once these difficult shots were completed, shooting went to a far more predictable arena – the giant tank set up at Village Roadshow Studios in Queensland, ironically where Collet-Serra had shot House of Wax about ten years earlier. Approximately 90% of The Shallows was shot in the tank, with Lively front and center for every scene. And no, there was no real shark used – not even a prop one. Collet-Serra later explained how it was never even a consideration to attempt to build a replica of a great white because it would’ve been just too difficult to work with, even within the safe confines of the tank. So a CGI shark was painstakingly crafted using designs and drawings based on real sharks, and because the shark in the film is a female, it’s bigger and more territorial, hence more deadly. Apparently sharks get a little kinky while mating, which is partially why the shark is covered in so many scars and gashes; that’s just what happens when you’re a single lady shark looking for a baby daddy.
Of course, there’s one more central character to address: Steven Seagull, the injured but communicative bird Blake’s character has as a neighbor during her harrowing plight. The bird, whose real name was Sully, was from a seagull sanctuary in Australia and quickly became known as the Marlon Brando of birds. He even had understudies, other seagulls on call in case the producers weren’t getting the goods from him, but turned out he was a true pro and never needed a stand-in. Though it does sound like working with him could get contentious – during the scene where Blake’s character fixes his busted wing, Sully really did bite down on the actress’ finger, and apparently sometimes he was known to lash out at her when he was feeling a bit discontent. Hollywood is filled with stories about actors who didn’t get along off-set but made good movies together, and you can add The Shallows to that list as well. That wasn’t the only injury Blake sustained; in fact, she cracked her nose on the buoy she latches onto in the film, which resulted in a real bloody nose captured on film. She even told us about it during an exclusive interview back when the film first came out which your humble writer was lucky enough to conduct.
When all was said and done, The Shallows shot for around three months in Australia, with some pick-up shots done in L.A. afterward. Blake Lively apparently discovered she was pregnant with her second child toward the end of the shoot, not that you’d know it thanks to the intense endurance training she had to go through to get into surfer shape.
The Shallows opened on June 24, 2016, opposite Independence Day: Resurgence to the tune of $16 million, not at all bad considering that was also its budget. All told, the film grossed $119 million worldwide, making it a very profitable movie indeed. While as of this video there hasn’t been any direct-to-VOD sequels, there has been a 2025 remake courtesy of China which boasts a mostly-similar story of one woman’s fight to outlast a toothy enemy.
So back to our original discussion: While The Shallows is no Jaws, where does it sit in the “best shark movies not called Jaws” list? Let’s say it’s bobbing near the top, offering a meat-and-potatoes piece of entertainment that forces the viewer to contemplate how they’d fare in such a situation. That’s worth a bucket of chum or two at the very least.
A couple of the previous episodes of What Happened to This Horror Movie? can be seen below. To see more, head over to our JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!
Arrow in the Head
