More intriguing is Deeper. I’ve heard that Ana de Armas is poised to join Tom Cruise in this undersea supernatural film that Doug Liman will direct. De Armas is the new wrinkle here; they’ve been photographed together recently, and I’m told they are doing the diving training required for the project.
Deeper follows an astronaut who encounters a terrifying force while on a deep dive into a never-before-explored trench. Pic has been in development for almost a decade, originally set at MGM in April 2016, which bought a Max Landis spec. I’ve heard Christopher McQuarrie is involved with the script now. Originally, Bradley Cooper was to star, with Kornél Mundruczó directing; Idris Elba and filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur teamed on a later iteration that likewise failed to move forward.
This one is expensive, in the $200 million range most likely, and it proved too rich for Warner Bros’ blood. But Cruise crushed the Croisette this week with the final installment of Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning, a film expected to do $70 million or more on its five-day opening weekend, hopefully on a blockbuster path. De Armas also has momentum, as her John Wick spinoff Ballerina is tracking at $40 million-plus.
While he, Liman and McQuarrie have plans to shoot a narrative film in space with cooperation from NASA and SpaceX, I’m told Cruise would like to make Deeper next and it’s not a question of if, but where he decides to make it. No comment from his camp.
“Obviously, everyone knows I’m working with Tom Cruise. We’re working on something with Doug Liman and Christopher Mcquarrie, and those guys are unbelievable at everything they do. And they’re so lovely and a great team, and the process we’re having is amazing,” she says. “And of course I’m doing crazy training, as you do when you’re working with Tom. It’s another level that just keeps setting the bar higher and higher. But it’s so much fun. And we’re not only working on that thing that we’re training for, but also a couple other things too,” she adds. “We just got excited.”
