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Underwater (film)

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This article is about the 2020 science fiction film. For the 1955 adventure film starring Jane Russell, see Underwater!

Underwater
Underwater poster.jpeg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWilliam Eubank
Screenplay by
Story byBrian Duffield
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyBojan Bazelli
Edited by
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Century Fox[1]
Release date
  • January 10, 2020 (2020-01-10)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50–80 million[2][3]
Box office$40.9 million[1]

Underwater is a 2020 American science fiction action horror film directed by William Eubank.[4] The film stars Kristen Stewart, Vincent Cassel, Jessica Henwick, John Gallagher Jr., Mamoudou Athie, and T.J. Miller.[5]

Underwater follows a group of workers on a drilling facility at the bottom of the ocean who encounter hostile creatures after an earthquake destroys the facility. The film is loosely based on the Cthulhu Mythos, as it features Cthulhu and the Deep Ones as the antagonists.

The film was released in the United States on January 10, 2020, by 20th Century Fox. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $41 million worldwide against a production budget of $50–80 million. Notably, it was the final film released under the 20th Century Fox brand, as new owner The Walt Disney Company changed the company's name to 20th Century Studios just a week after its release.

Plot

Kepler 822, a research and drilling facility operated by Tian Industries at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, is struck by a strong earthquake. As part of the facility is destroyed by the quake, mechanical engineer Norah Price and her colleagues, Rodrigo and Paul, make their way to the escape pod bay. However, the three discover that all of the escape pods have already been deployed, with Captain Lucien being the only person in the area when the three arrive. Together they reach a control base and find biologist Emily Haversham and engineer Liam Smith, who are also in a relationship, who confirm that there is no contact with the surface. Lucien suggests using pressurized suits to walk one mile across the ocean floor to Roebuck 641 and attempt to resurface from there. As they descend in a freight elevator, Rodrigo’s defective helmet implodes under the water pressure. The surviving crew see a distress beacon from one of the escape pods below, and Smith and Paul go to investigate. As they arrive at the location, they find a body in the rubble. A creature emerges from the corpse's back and attacks. Smith kills the creature and takes it inside. Haversham examines the creature and realizes that it belongs to a previously undiscovered species.

The five make their way to the sea floor, but as they are walking, Kepler explodes above and nearly buries them in debris. Smith is hit, but Price and Lucien save him. They get through an access tunnel to an intermediate station, where they can charge and clean their suits. However, Smith's oxygen scrubber has been badly damaged from the debris. On their way through the access tunnel, Paul is attacked by an unknown creature, dragged underwater and killed. Before the team leaves the access tunnel, they find that Smith's damaged oxygen pod will cause him to suffocate from the explosion's toxic fumes. Unwilling to leave another crew member behind, Price, Lucien and Haversham agree to help Smith walk. The four set off across the ocean floor, but a humanoid creature appears and drags Smith into a cave. Lucien gets Smith out, but is himself pulled from the other three. Price is dragged along with Lucien, but Lucien sacrifices himself to spare Price from the increasing pressure differential.

Price ends up at the abandoned Shepard station alone. She rummages through Lucien's locker and finds a pentagram drawn on an old blueprint of the initial drilling site. Price is able to change her damaged diving suit before continuing toward Roebuck. Walking along the ocean floor, she reunites with Haversham and Smith, and helps drag Smith. As they enter Roebuck, they encounter a nest of the humanoid creatures suspended from the ceiling and attempt to sneak by. The sound of Haversham's oxygen alarm awakens the creatures. Price is partially swallowed by one creatures, but frees herself by firing her flare gun while inside of its body, killing it. She fires a second flare into the distance and sees the creatures are spawn of an ancient titanic creature, Cthulhu. The three reach the escape pod bay, but Price discovers that only two of the pods are functional. Price and Haversham get the ailing Smith into a pod, and Price persuades Haversham to take the last one. Meanwhile, Cthulhu emerges and attacks the Roebuck while the smaller creatures pursue the two escape pods. Price, accepting her fate, initiates an overload of the Roebuck's nuclear core, resulting in a massive explosion that kills her, Cthulhu, and the creatures. The escape pods safely reach the surface. Tian Industries refuses cooperation with investigations regarding the events and prepares to expand its drilling efforts.

In the alternate ending, after overloading the core, Price makes her way to the damaged escape pod and rewires it, escaping just before the Roebuck explodes.[6]

Cast

Production

On February 22, 2017, it was announced that Kristen Stewart would star in Underwater, a film to be directed by William Eubank from a screenplay by Brian Duffield and Adam Cozad. It was revealed that principal production would commence the next month.[7] On March 7, 2017, T.J. Miller and Jessica Henwick joined the cast, and principal production was set to commence later that month in New Orleans.[8]

On April 5, 2017, during principal production, Vincent Cassel and Mamoudou Athie joined the cast,[9] and the next day, John Gallagher Jr. was also added.[10] In May 2017, following the end of filming for the film, it was revealed that Gunner Wright was also part of the cast.[11] After shooting the film, the director decided to design the alpha creature based on H. P. Lovecraft's mythos,[12] as it features Cthulhu as the monster.[13]

Marco Beltrami & Brandon Roberts composed the film score. Fox Music & Hollywood Records released the soundtrack.

Release

Underwater was released in the United States on January 10, 2020[14] and in UK cinemas on February 7, 2020.[15]

The film was the last 20th Century film to be released under the 20th Century Fox name, before its new owner, The Walt Disney Company, changed the name of the studio to 20th Century Studios on January 17, 2020.[16]

Reception

Box office

Underwater grossed $17.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $23.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $40.9 million.[1]

In the United States and Canada, Underwater was released alongside Like a Boss and the expansions of Just Mercy and 1917, and was projected to gross around $8 million in its opening weekend.[17][3] The film made $2.7 million on its first day, including $500,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $7 million, finishing seventh at the box office.[2] The film fell 48% in its second weekend to $3.6 million (and $4.8 million over the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday), finishing eleventh.[18]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 47% based on 218 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Underwater's strong cast and stylish direction aren't enough to distract from the strong sense of déjà vu provoked by this claustrophobic thriller's derivative story."[19] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100 based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[20] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale, and PostTrak reported it received an average 2 out of 5 stars, with 35% of people saying they would definitely recommend it.[2]

John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "This is a creature feature, whose gory jump-scares and icktastic critter design are the reason you're here. An ensemble led by Kristen Stewart brings credible camaraderie to the scenario without quite matching the vivid chemistry of Alien and its best descendants; with such a tightly packed survival tale ahead of them, though, few viewers will be calling out for more character development."[21]

Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote: "Underwater is a stupefying entertainment in which every claustrophobic space and apocalyptic crash of water registers as a slick visual trigger, yet it's all built on top of a dramatic void. It's boredom in Sensurround."[22]

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Visual Effects Society Awards April 6, 2021 Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Feature Sreejith Venugopalan, Ruslan Borysov, Susil Sabat, Andreas Andersson Nominated [23]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Underwater (2020)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 10, 2020). "'1917' Strong With $36M+, But 'Like A Boss' & 'Just Mercy' Fighting Over 4th With $10M; Why Kristen Stewart's 'Underwater' Went Kerplunk With $7M". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Rubin, Rebecca (January 7, 2020). "Will '1917' Get Box Office Boost After Golden Globes Wins?". Variety. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  4. ^ "Underwater (2020) - William Eubank | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie.
  5. ^ McNary, Dave (February 22, 2017). "Kristen Stewart in Talks to Star in Adventure-Thriller 'Underwater'". Variety. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  6. ^ "Underwater's Alternate Ending Brings Peace to My Weary Mind". April 17, 2020.
  7. ^ Busch, Anita (February 22, 2017). "Kristen Stewart In Final Negotiations To Star In Fox Movie 'Underwater'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  8. ^ McNary, Dave (March 7, 2017). "T.J. Miller, Jessica Henwick Join Kristen Stewart in Thriller 'Underwater'". Variety. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  9. ^ Ford, Rebecca (May 4, 2017). "Vincent Cassel, 'Get Down' Star Mamoudou Athie Join 'Underwater'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  10. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (April 6, 2017). "John Gallagher Jr. Boards Fox's 'Underwater'; Dwayne Cameron Joins '#211'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  11. ^ Wakeman, Gregory (May 22, 2017). "T.J. Miller Compares Underwater To Two Classic James Cameron Films". CinemaBlend. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  12. ^ Squires, John (January 17, 2020). "[Spoilers] 'Underwater' Director Confirms That You Saw What You Thought You Saw in the Final Act". Bloody Disgusting!.
  13. ^ Lewis, Shannon (January 17, 2020). "Underwater Movie's Monster Is Cthulhu". Screen Rant. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  14. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 7, 2019). "Disney-Fox Updates Release Schedule: Sets Three Untitled 'Star Wars' Movies, 'New Mutants' Heads To 2020, 'Ad Astra' To Open Fall & More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  15. ^ "Underwater UK Cinema release". Filmoria.co.uk. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  16. ^ Vary, Adam (January 17, 2020). "Disney Drops Fox Name, Will Rebrand as 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures". Variety. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  17. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 6, 2020). "'1917' Advance Ticket Sales Already Fired Up From Golden Globe Wins As Sam Mendes Pic Sees $25M Opening". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  18. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 19, 2020). "'Bad Boys For Life' So Great With $100M+ Worldwide; 'Dolittle' Still A Dud With $57M+ Global – Box Office Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  19. ^ "Underwater (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  20. ^ "Underwater Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  21. ^ DeFore, John (January 7, 2020). "'Underwater': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
  22. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (January 8, 2020). "'Underwater': Film Review". Variety.
  23. ^ Pederson, Erik (March 2, 2021). "VES Awards Nominations: 'Tenet', 'Midnight Sky', 'Extraction', 'Soul' & 'Mandalorian' Among Titles In Visual Effects Hunt". Deadline. Retrieved March 2, 2021.

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