Pet Semetary director Mary Lambert to helm a frightening mermaid thriller

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, Branded Pictures Entertainment has announced that PET SEMATARY director Mary Lambert has been tapped to helm an adaptation of YA author Mira Grant's (a.k.a. Seanan McGuire) mermaid thriller ROLLING IN THE DEEP. Adapting the novel for the silver screen is Sean Hood (HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION, CUBE 2: HYPERCUBE), who will strive to do justice to the tale of a go-get-em filmmaker set to explore the Mariana Trench with a small film crew to create a faux documentary about mermaids. Without warning, what begins as a tongue-in-cheek exploration soon turns to horror as sailors begin disappearing from the murky waters. Soon, the crew realizes that they're under attack by flesh-and-blood mermaids, and that the creature's beautiful voices won't be the only thing pulling them toward the black of a vast ocean floor.

“Rolling in the Deep’ is a film led by complicated badass female characters,” Lambert said. “I’ve been waiting to make a film like this my entire career. Our mermaids are not cliché sugary cartoon princesses; they will take you down if you stand in their way.”

Then, while adding to Lambert's remarks, BPE founder and president J. Todd Harris (who is also producing the pic) said, “We loved Mira’s book when we read it and immediately recognized its feature potential in a market hungry for frightening yet unique fare. The combination of acclaimed filmmakers Mary Lambert and Sean Hood is the perfect pairing to realize the book’s potential.”

With production expected to begin in 2019, it's been said that director of THE BYE BYE MAN, Stacey Title, will executive produce. Meanwhile, BPE director of development Thomas Pettinelli will co-produce. Furthermore,  BPE executive Marc Marcum, who discovered the book and brought it to the studio claims that the story of ROLLING IN THE DEEP boasts elements of films like THE SHALLOWS, 47 METERS DOWN, DEAD CALM, and ALIEN. “It is meant to be the definitive adaptation of the original mermaid myth that goes back to the dawn of civilization,” Marcum said in a statement.

Since 2009, Mira Grant (or as we refer to her in my house, Seanan McGuire) has been creating page-turning fiction with nearly 40 novels released. I could be mistaken, but there's a chance that my wife has read all of them. In fact, I think Rolling in the Deep is the only Grant novel she hasn't finished, on account of it freaking her out too much. According to her, the mermaids are vicious, vile creatures that are truly the stuff of nightmares. There's even a sequel to 'Rolling in the Deep' called 'Into the Drowning Deep', which had been published in 2017. Mmm … do I smell a franchise on the sea air?

We'll be sure to keep you informed as more information related to ROLLING IN THE DEEP bubbles to the surface. In the meantime, be careful where you swim, and if you see any half-naked ladies singing to you from atop a lonely ocean rock … SWIM THE OTHER WAY!