What happened to the JAWS vs Orca shark film, Alphas?

Back in early 2020 we were saying that Avatar star Sam Worthington was in advanced talks to play the lead in shark-versus-killer whale thriller, Alphas, that was set to start shooting that summer.

Fast forward three years, and not even the hint of a dorsal fin has surfaced, so what happened to arguably one of the most eagerly anticipated shark films since JAWS?

All the elements seemed to be in place, complete with an enticing poster of a great white and killer whale circling a human.

At the time we said: Sentient and Endurance Media will be producing and financing the picture, alongside Endurance Media. Director Steven Quale - who also directed Final Destination 5 - will helm the sea set story with oceanic credentials to boot.

Perhaps more importantly, Quale started out as second unit director on Titanic and Avatar and went on to co-direct Aliens Of The Deep with James Cameron.

The screenplay, penned by Frank Hannah (The Cooler) is from an original story by Hannah and Christopher Tuffin.

Principal photography is set to begin in Puerto Rico this summer. Worthington will likely play an environmentalist who must convince the owner of a killer whale sanctuary to unleash the orca that nearly killed her in an attempt to drive away a spiralling Great White shark population led by a fierce alpha shark.

Effects house BUF (Bladerunner 2049) and Important Looking Pirates (The Shallows) will handle the creature effects, and world-renowned Pete Zuccarini (Avatar and Pirates Of The Caribbean franchises) will choreograph and shoot the underwater sequences.

No word as to whether the main creatures will be solely CGI or be a blend of CGI and practical effects.

We’d love to see a full scale, physically built Great White take on a similar Killer Whale a la Bruce!

All sounded great, and that it was shaping up to be an exciting cinematic ride with the talent involved.

That was then, but the film seems to have been in something of a development hell ever since. We can only assume that in part the delay has been because of Covid disruptions that rocked the film industry, with productions still not back up to pre-Covid levels.

Not to mention that the film's expected human star, Worthington,  has been kept busy on Pandora with Avatar 2: The Way of Water, not to mention any work on its sequels.

So, where does all that leave the future of Alphas?

JAWS may have transferred from page to screen very quickly, but The Meg took over 20 years to swim to the surface, so some shark films can take their time to reach an audience.

The plot still remains intriguing, which is why it is something we all want to see it realised on the big screen, especially with several stories and video emerging of Orcas killing great white sharks, making it almost ripped from the pages of reality.

And a slew of new shark films heading our way in 2023 shows that there is no let-up in appetite - by filmmakers and filmgoers - for films featuring sharks.

They may not be JAWS, but they don't need to, they just need to give us something different and new, which is precisely why we'll wait and bide our time for Alphas.

We don't mind when it comes to the surface, but just that it does find its way to water and our screens.

Words by Dean Newman

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