2024 marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the Renny Harlin shark thriller Deep Blue Sea (watch it HERE) – and all these years later, one of the film’s stars is still waiting to have a rematch with the genetically engineered mako sharks at the heart of the story. That actor is LL Cool J, whose character Sherman “Preacher” Dudley was originally supposed to die in the movie (and LL Cool J has said that he nearly died for real during filming), but Harlin decided Preacher should be one of the few people to make it all the way to the end credits, which then had an LL Cool J song playing over them.
Directed by Harlin from a screenplay by Duncan Kennedy, Donna Powers, and Wayne Powers, Deep Blue Sea has the following synopsis: On an island research facility, Dr. Susan McAlester is harvesting the brain tissue of DNA-altered sharks as a possible cure for Alzheimer’s disease. When the facility’s backers send an executive to investigate the experiments, a routine procedure goes awry and a shark starts attacking the researchers. Now, with sharks outnumbering their human captors, McAlester and her team must figure out a way to stop them from escaping to the ocean and breeding.
LL Cool J was joined in the cast by Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, Jacqueline McKenzie, Michael Rapaport, Stellan Skarsgård, Samuel L. Jackson, and Aida Turturro.
Speaking with The Standard, LL Cool J said, “Deep Blue Sea could be a lot of fun to revise, you know to do a new Deep Blue Sea. Also, In Too Deep could be fun to do a sequel.“
Another 1999 release, In Too Deep was a crime thriller directed by Michael Rymer. It told the story of undercover cop Jeffrey Cole (Omar Epps), who’s out to take down a criminal kingpin named Dwayne Gittens and nicknamed God (that was LL Cool J’s character).
In Too Deep has never gotten a sequel, but Deep Blue Sea has received two direct-to-video sequels over the years.
Would you like to see LL Cool J come back for a new Deep Blue Sea sequel and/or a sequel to In Too Deep? Let us know by leaving a comment below.