Imagine being an actor, showing up to work for the day, and suddenly there’s three tons of water rushing toward you, threatening to drown you and your fellow castmates. Well, that’s exactly what happened to the cast of Deep Blue Sea.
So the next time you watch the film, just know that these people are legitimately running for their lives, narrowly avoiding a tragedy. And like any good shark movie, its behind-the-scenes story is nearly as interesting as the film itself.
Let’s look at the fates that were changed, the actors that had to be fought for, and the chaos of combining jet engines with mechanical sharks as we dive into what happened to Deep Blue Sea.
Nightmares have inspired many horror films. But imagine witnessing a tragic shark attack and being unable to shake the image, waking in the middle of the night, terrified of sharks closing in on you in a confined space. Screenwriter Duncan Kennedy turned that fear into a script called Deep Red, which Warner Bros. purchased in 1994.
Development stalled until director Renny Harlin came aboard. Writers Wayne Powers and Donna Powers were brought in for rewrites, with Akiva Goldsman later refining the script and pushing it in a more sci-fi direction.
By this stage, the film had become Deep Blue Sea. While Kennedy maintained that the core structure remained intact, elements from each writer shaped the final version.
The film follows a scientific research station experimenting on mako sharks to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. There’s just one problem: the sharks get smarter. Soon, they flood the facility and begin hunting the humans one by one.
It had all the makings of a summer blockbuster, but the road to success wasn’t guaranteed.
Hiring Harlin was considered risky. He hadn’t had a major commercial success since Cliffhanger (1993), so he knew Deep Blue Sea had to stand out. His strategy? Unpredictability.
Instead of casting obvious stars who would clearly survive, he chose a mix of lesser-known actors and recognizable faces… and planned to kill off the recognizable ones.
Then there was Samuel L. Jackson.
Jackson’s character, Russell Franklin, was written specifically for him after he declined another role. His shocking mid-speech death became one of the most memorable moments in the film, instantly signaling to audiences that no one was safe, and giving us one of the all-time greatest death scenes.
Ronny Cox appears early in the film as a corporate executive. But due to editing, he doesn’t speak a single line, just sits silently while Jackson delivers his speech.
It’s a strange choice, especially given Cox’s talent for playing memorable villains.
Harlin had to fight the studio to cast LL Cool J as Preacher. The studio eventually agreed, and it paid off.
Originally, Preacher was supposed to die early in the film. But Harlin liked the character so much that he extended his role. Test audiences later demanded he survive, saving him entirely.
Even his parrot had behind-the-scenes quirks: two different birds were used, one trained to fly, the other to perch.
Stellan Skarsgård was cast as Dr. Jim Whitlock, despite the character having a distinctly English name that didn’t quite match his accent. Still, his performance added intensity to the film’s scientific chaos.
Original production designer Joseph Bennett clashed with Harlin and was replaced by William Sandell, who helped keep the film on schedule.
Filming took place at Fox Baja Studios in Mexico, using the same water tanks built for Titanic.
And then things went wrong. Immediately. On the first day of shooting, a mechanical shark malfunctioned and destroyed four Panavision cameras.
The production used both CGI and practical effects.
One shark was even made 26 feet long, just to outdo the shark from the Steven Spielberg classic Jaws.
Special effects designer Walt Conti spent eight months building them. Despite their realism, they were incredibly dangerous.
Actors like Jacqueline McKenzie and LL Cool J were placed inside the mechanical shark’s mouth for key scenes, sometimes unaware of earlier malfunctions.
Water made the shoot extremely difficult. Harlin later called it the hardest experience of his career. The production even filmed in the open ocean, with Thomas Jane swimming alongside real sharks.
This was done at the end of filming, just in case something went wrong.
Originally, Dr. Susan McAlester survived. Test audiences hated it. They rejected the idea that a character responsible for so many deaths would live. So Harlin reshot the ending in a single day at Universal Studios, using quick CGI to kill her off.
Rumor has it that Saffron Burrows wasn’t informed, and only discovered the change at the premiere.
LL Cool J contributed music to the film, including a track created specifically for it. The score by Trevor Rabin stood out for avoiding comparisons to John Williams and establishing its own identity.
Deep Blue Sea was released on July 30, 1999.
Critics were mixed (60% on Rotten Tomatoes), but the film has since achieved cult status.
The film remains one of the most entertaining shark movies ever made. A 4K release from Arrow Video has become a must-own for fans.
Two direct-to-video sequels followed:
While fun, neither matched the scale or impact of the original.
Deep Blue Sea endures because it delivers exactly what audiences want: tension, chaos, and unforgettable moments.
And now you know what happened behind the scenes.
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