Kristen Stewart battles creatures in the depths of the ocean in the trailer for Fox's horror-thriller, Underwater. The upcoming film was actually shot in early 2017, with William Eubank directing a cast led by Stewart, Jessica Henwick, T.J. Miller, and Vincent Cassel. A lot's happened in the two-plus years since then, with Miller being arrested for making a fake bomb threat (in addition to facing allegations of sexual assault), Henwick's run on Iron Fist drawing to a close after Netflix cancelled its Defenders TV series, and Disney finalizing its purchase of Fox's entertainment assets this past March.
In contrast to all the off-screen turmoil, there haven't been any major reports about Underwater being a troubled production. On the contrary, it's been chugging along steadily for the last couple years and was scheduled for early 2020 when Disney announced its new release slate, post-Fox deal. Now, the film's marketing is getting up and going ahead of its release in about four and a half months.
Fox released the Underwater trailer online today, ahead of its premiere in theaters this weekend. In an interview with EW, Stewart described the film - which was written by Adam Cozad (The Legend of Tarzan) and Brian Duffield (The Babysitter) - as a "really dark, scary meditation on isolation", saying it follows a group of people who barely know one another and shows "the weird relationships being formed really quickly" between them as they struggle to survive. You can watch the trailer below.
Stewart leads Underwater as Norah Price, a jaded member of an underwater research crew whose lives are endangered when their subterranean lab is destroyed by an earthquake (which they helped cause). Dwindling oxygen and damaged machinery aren't the only things they have to worry about either, as the trailer shows Norah and her team being hunted by mysterious deep sea monsters unleashed by the quake. The new footage plays out a bit like a cross between The Abyss and The Descent, between the claustrophobic interiors of the devastated research station where Norah and her team work, and shots of the survivors being picked off one by one by creatures in the shadowy depths of the ocean.
It's all fairly comfortable territory for Eubank, following his previous efforts on the modestly well-received 2014 sci-fi thriller, The Signal. Underwater is scheduled to arrive on January 10, which is typically regarded as a dumping ground for studios after the winter holiday rush. There have been surprises in the past, though, with horror-thrillers like Insidious: The Last Key and Escape Room having done decent box office business over the frame in recent years. That's to say, there may yet be a similar happy ending in the cards for Eubank and Stewart's aptly titled Underwater adventure.
Source: 20th Century Fox, EW