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3 hours ago
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EXCLUSIVE: Magenta Light Studios, the recently announced production and distribution company of Crash producer Bob Yari, has acquired domestic rights from Arclight Films to Deep Water, a new thriller directed by Renny Harlin (The Strangers trilogy), which stars Aaron Eckhart (Sully) and Ben Kingsley (Gandhi).
The film, written by Pete Bridges (Aurora) and John Kim (Bait), will be released in theaters this year. It follows an eclectic group of international passengers whose plane, en route from L.A. to Shanghai, is forced to make an emergency landing in shark-infested waters. The terrified group is forced to work together and overcome their differences if they hope to escape their sinking plane and the frenzy of sharks drawn to the wreckage.
Others in the cast include Molly Belle Wright (Sundance ’25’s Omaha), Angus Sampson (The Lincoln Lawyer) and Kelly Gale (Plane). A Simmons/Hamilton Production, launched by Kiss co-founder Gene Simmons and Gary Hamilton, Chairman of Arclight Films, the film is produced by Arclight Films’ Ying Ye (Hotel Mumbai), Gabba Post’s Neal Kingston (The Reef: Stalked), Aristos Films’ Grant Bradley (Legacy of Lies) and Dale Bradley (Lovers), Nostromo Pictures’ Adrián Guerra (Buried, The Beginning of the End) and Xavier Parache (A House on Fire), and Magenta Light Studios’ Yari (Crash, Yellowstone).
In a statement to Deadline, Yari said that Deep Water “does an incredible job of bringing adventure, suspense and intensity to the screen including one of the most nerve-wracking plane crash scenes ever witnessed on film. It is the kind of movie that is made for the big screen and we are excited to bring it to audiences in theaters this year.”
For Harlin, “DEEP WATER represents the kind of movie I’ve dreamed of making since I grew up loving the 70s disaster movies. Spectacular action and unforgettable characters who didn’t leave a dry eye in the movie theater.” Continued the filmmaker, “Bob Yari and his Magenta Light team have been the biggest supporters of this project since the beginning, and I’m proud to have a wide theatrical release for a movie that deserves to be seen and heard on the biggest possible number of screens across the country.”
Magenta Light Studios drummed up a good amount of buzz this past summer with Strange Darling, the critically acclaimed cat-and-mouse thriller written and directed by JT Mollner, which stars Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner. This year, the company also plans to release Bride Hard, an action comedy from Simon West, which stars Rebel Wilson. They’re also in post on Ed Kaplan’s Summerhouse, starring Malcolm McDowell and Jacob Ward.
C.J. Vranca, Head of Business & Legal Affairs at Magenta Light Studios, negotiated the deal with Brian Beckmann, CFO/COO of Arclight Films.
