JAWS actor Richard Dreyfuss heads 'Into The Deep' in new shark film
In a canny piece of casting, almost 50 years after taking on a great white shark in JAWS (1975). Matt Hooper actor Richard Dreyfuss is back ‘in sharks’ in upcoming shark thriller, Into The Deep.
According to the write up on IMDB, the film is about a group of divers searching for sunken treasure who witness the murder of drug dealers by modern-day pirates, but that is the least of their worries as a killer great white shark stands between them and their escape from the water.
The film, directed by Christian Sesma, is currently listed as in post-production, which means we should see the film surface sometime later this year.
Dreyfuss is the only main surviving cast member of the Steven Spielberg shark classic, which is based on the book by Peter Benchley, although this isn’t the first time he has dipped his toe back in the water.
He featured as a Matt Hooper-like character in the opening of the Piranha (2010) remake - Spielberg called the Joe Dante original “the best of the JAWS rip-offs” - and as one of the crew trying to escape the upturned Poseidon – showing a bigger boat isn’t always better - in the remake of The Poseidon Adventure alongside Kurt Russell and star of The Black Demon, Josh Lucas.
Dean Newman, Head of Content for The Daily Jaws – the world’s number one JAWS fan site – said: “Quint actor Robert Shaw capitalised on his success of JAWS in another Peter Benchley book, The Deep, just two years later, so it is a surprise that it has taken Dreyfuss this long to head back to the world of shark cinema.
“With a shiver of shark films sets to be released again this year, the kudos of having one of the crew of the Orca onboard the production and – no matter if the film is good or bad – this was not a casting accident as it will certainly make it stand out from the crowd, giving it a bigger boost and making it a must see for curious JAWS and shark film fans alike.”
As well as the legendary JAWS actor the film also features Scout Taylor-Compton (who played Laurie Strode in the Rob Zombie Halloween films) and Stuart Townsend (Queen of the Damned and The League of Extraordinary Gentleman).
It will be interesting to see how the shark is realised, one suspects mostly through use of CGI, as Richard Dreyfuss has previously suggested that the practical shark effects in JAWS should be updated with CGI for modern audiences. Do you think those proportions are correct?
We’ll have more updates on Into The Deep and other shark films being released in 2024 as we get them.
Words by Dean Newman
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