Primer director Shane Carruth moving forward with The Modern Ocean

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Deadline is reporting that PRIMER and UPSTREAM COLOR filmmaker Shane Carruth has signed with WME, and that the agency will help get the ball rolling on his next movie, a nautical action adventure flick titled THE MODERN OCEAN. The project will be Carruth's first big-budget effort, and although I doubt it will have a huge price tag, he will still have a lot more money to work with compared to his previous films.

Not much is known about THE MODERN OCEAN, but last month Carruth told Motherboard that it will feature an ensemble cast, with ten primary roles and twenty supporting roles, and explained why the story is set at sea.

The ocean is not policed in any kind of perfect way. And a lot of things happen out there that, you know, it's sort of every man for himself or every group of men for themselves. And it tests everything. It tests everyone's loyalty, because there is no one to run to and say "someone did something bad, I need to call the cops!" You have to deal with it right there with the means at your disposal. So that was the number one reason, because I've got a story where I need that. I need to have my characters all making choices that are a combination or compromise between loyalty and their own motives and that gives me that playing field.

Carruth also said "I'm constantly interested in the politics, interactions between different personalities, different characters," and "That's what this boils down to: it erupts into a big action film, essentially, but the reasons why it does are the reasons the story exists." There's no word yet on when production might start or when it will be released, but if things move forward quickly, THE MODERN OCEAN could open as early as late 2016.