British genre label Tea Shop Productions, the group behind 2017’s ‘trapped in a shark cage’ feature “47 Meters Down” and last year’s ‘trapped atop a 2000ft radio tower’ buzzy hit “Fall,” have set up their next survival thriller.
The team are swapping sharks and heights for gators with their new project titled “The Bayou”. The film will see a group of friends crash landing in the water-logged, inhospitable Louisiana swamplands.
Megan Best (“Nobody”) leads the survivors who are out of their depth as they find themselves being picked off one-by-one by a relentless pack of alligators – led by a ferocious alpha female who is the apex predator of this region.
Matthew Ninaber (“Death Valley”) directs, and Gavin Mehrtens penned the script from a story by Ashley Holberry. The latter two will also produce alongside Mark Lane and James Harris. Production company Cowboy Cosmonaut is also onboard.
UK visual effects outfit Koala FX, who did the visuals for “Fall,” will handle the VFX and monster creation for “The Bayou”. Filming aims to begin in the fourth quarter of this year.
The premise sounds not dissimilar from 2007’s “Black Water,” inspired by a true story in which a giant saltwater crocodile stalks a pregnant woman, her boyfriend and her sister in a mangrove swamp in Northern Australia. The last major alligator/croc film was 2019’s acclaimed “Crawl”.
Source: Deadline
