UPDATE, 9:50 AM: I knew this was going to be a tough sell. Arclight Films has put production of Deep Water on hold because of its eerie similarities to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Arclight Managing Director Gary Hamilton gave the following statement to THR at the Asian Industry tradeshow Filmart in Hong Kong: “Out of sensitivity to the Malaysia flight situation, we’ve decided to put it on pause for now”.
PREVIOUS, MARCH 21 PM: Given the worldwide concern over what happened to the hundreds of passengers on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 after it vanished over water en route to Beijing, what a lousy time to be developing a project likeDeep Water. This is an Australian film that revolves around a flight from Beijing to Sydney that crashes in the Pacific and pits an air marshal and a small group of survivors against giant tiger sharks. The picture was in the works before the air disaster, with Screen Australia financing development of a co-production between Australia and China. Arclight Films is producing, and Alister Grierson is attached to direct. He helmed Sanctum 3D for Fox and producer James Cameron. They just hired Australian scribe Terrance Mulloy to write the script. Maybe by the time this sees the light of day, the tragedy will have faded in memory, but it seems like a tough assignment right now.