Deep Water (2026 film)

During an international flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai, an improperly stowed power bank ignites a fire in the aircraft's cargo hold, leading to an explosion that ruptures the cabin and destroys an engine. As rows of passengers are ripped out of the plane, captain Rich and first officer Ben are forced to make an emergency ocean landing. The aircraft strikes a coral reef, separating the survivors into three sections of wreckage.

In the forward section, Rich is trapped in his seat and places Ben in command, ordering him to escape before the cockpit fills with water. Hoping to retrieve the aircraft's E.L.T locator from the middle section of wreckage, crew member Penny swims out alone, but Ben and young passenger Cora are unable to save her from a shark.

Ben and Cora reach the middle section, as does passenger Lilly, who is reunited with her esports teammate Sam, but sharks continue to attack. With fewer than thirty survivors left, Ben organizes them aboard two life rafts, and is forced to take charge against the selfish Dan and the aggressive Hutch. Dan loses the locator in the water, while Sam and Hutch are narrowly rescued after being swept away.

In the submerged tail section, crew member Zoey, Matt, Becky, and Cora’s stepbrother Finn are trapped in an air pocket. Swimming to the surface to find help, Matt encounters Cora and Finn’s father, but they are immediately attacked by a shark. Zoey decides they can no longer wait for rescue and encourages Finn and Becky to come with her. Becky decides to remain behind. As Finn and Zoey swim to the surface they find Matt's lifeless body. Becky in her final moments leaves a voicenote to her granddaughter thanking her for bringing happiness into her life. As Finn and Zoey break the surface, Zoey is mauled by a shark but she still manages to board the liferaft before collapsing. Finn stares over the side of the raft and falls into the water.

By nightfall, the survivors are located by a U.S. Navy rescue helicopter. A crew member is lowered into the water but quickly devoured by sharks, and the destablized helicopter crashes and capsizes a life raft. As they all scramble aboard the upturned raft, Dan pulls the air stewardess into the water where she is devoured by sharks as he clambers to safety. Cora is trapped on the wreckage, and a Chinese fishing boat is unable to reach the remaining raft due to the coral reef. Ben decides to brave the water to rescue Cora but whilst swimming back with Cora, they are surrounded by sharks. Ben manages to kill one with a flare gun. The slovenly Dan is knocked into the water and is eaten by sharks as the fishermen throw their catch into the water, successfully luring the predators away.

The survivors are rescued by the fishermen, and Sam and Lilly admit their feelings for each other. Cora uses Ben’s phone to locate her stepbrother’s tracking chip, finding Zoey and Finn alive. Having originally requested the flight to avoid facing his own son’s illness, Ben tells his family that he is coming home.

• Aaron Eckhart as Ben
• Molly Belle Wright as Cora
• Angus Sampson as Dan
• Ben Kingsley as Rich
• Lucy Barrett as Penny
• Rose Zhao as Lilly, a member of an esports team
• Lakota Johnson as Hutch, a member of the wrestling team
• Elijah Tamati as Finn, Cora’s seven-year-old stepbrother

Rarmian Newton, Madeleine West, Mark Hadlow, Kelly Gale, Kate Fitzpatrick, Richard Crouchley, Ryan Bown, Priya Jain, Rob Kipa-Williams, and Jacqueline Lee Geurts played, respectively, Jesse, Martine, Coach Dade, Jaya, Becky, Matt, Declan, Check-In Agent, Jim and Hailey, other passengers on the flight. Michael Cardelle and John De Luca played, respectively, Macey and Hans, two cabin crew officers on the flight, who ultimately died when trying to extinguish the cargo fire.

Following the release of Bait 3D, a sequel about a plane en route from China to Australia crashing in the Pacific Ocean under the title Deep Water was planned, but was scrapped in March 2014 due to "uncomfortable similarities" to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.^[7][8]

In May 2023, however, it was announced that Gene Simmons, along with Arclight Films' chairman Gary Hamilton, had formed Simmons/Hamilton Productions, with the first film from the company being the previously shelved Deep Water with Renny Harlin set to direct.^[9]

By December of that year, Aaron Eckhart and Ben Kingsley were shooting scenes on the film in Gran Canaria with prior shooting done in New Zealand.^[10]

In February 2025, Magenta Light Studios acquired U.S. rights to the film.^[11] The film premiered at the Sarasota Film Festival on April 10, 2026, as the opening night film, and is scheduled to have a wide release on May 1, 2026.^[12][13]

• Deep Blue Sea (1999 film), another shark film directed by Renny Harlin
• No Way Up, an oceanic plane crash survival movie with a similar premise