| Night Swim | |
|---|---|
 Teaser poster | |
| Directed by | Bryce McGuire |
| Screenplay by | Bryce McGuire |
| Story by |
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| Based on | Night Swim by
|
| Produced by | |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Charlie Sarroff[1] |
| Edited by | Jeff McEvoy[1] |
| Music by | Mark Korven[1] |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Night Swim is an upcoming American supernatural horror film written and directed by Bryce McGuire (in his feature directorial debut), and based on the 2014 short film of the same name by McGuire and Rod Blackhurst. The film stars Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, Amélie Hoeferle and Gavin Warren, as a family whose backyard swimming pool is haunted.
James Wan and Jason Blum serve as producers under their Atomic Monster and Blumhouse Productions banners, respectively. Night Swim is scheduled to be released in the United States on January 5, 2024, by Universal Pictures.
Premise
After the Waller family move into a new house, they find an unknown supernatural presence haunts the backyard swimming pool.[2]
Cast
- Wyatt Russell as Ray Waller[1]
- Kerry Condon as Eve Waller[1]
- Amélie Hoeferle as Izzy Waller[1]
- Gavin Warren as Elliot Waller[1]
- Nancy Lenehan[3]
- Jodi Long[3]
- Rahnuma Panthaky[1]
- Eddie Martinez[1]
- Elijah J. Roberts[1]
Production
Proof-of-concept origins
The film's origins go back to 2014, when Bryce McGuire wrote and directed his low-budget five-minute 2014 short film of the same name in collaboration with his friend Rod Blackhurst, which he filmed in the backyard of musician Michelle Branch. It starred Megalyn Echikunwoke in the lead role, which would inspire the character of Izzy Waller in the feature version. McGuire cited Blumhouse's own films, as well as other films such as Poltergeist (1982), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Jaws (1975), Chistine (1983), The Night of the Hunter (1955) and The Abyss (1989) as the film's sources of inspiration. He also described the film's story as semi-autobiographical in connection to his childhood and adolescence, saying "Growing up in Florida, surrounded by ocean on three sides, in a climate that can only really be survived by partaking in water ritual, knowing friends who drowned, hurricanes that flooded homes, boating accidents, shark attacks, you come to have a kind of fear and reverence for the water ... I saw that movie [Jaws] when I was 10 years old. We had a swimming pool at the time, and I remember treading water by myself at night when my younger brother turned the lights out. And even though I knew the pool was only 9 feet deep and 18 feet wide, I was certain beyond any doubt that the water was an abyss and something horrible was rising toward me from the depths". The short film was released on YouTube on October 12, 2014, and went viral, allowing McGuire to break into the film industry as a screenwriter. Judson Scott, executive vice president at Atomic Monster, recommended the short to James Wan, who agreed to purchase the rights for a feature film adaptation.[1]
Development of feature version
The feature version of Night Swim was reported to be in pre-production in January 2023, following the success of the film M3GAN.[4] McGuire returned to direct from his own screenplay, in which he expanded the plot to add a layer of drama that would drive the story and an emotional layer to the terror that occurs to the characters. This involved adding "an epic, supernatural mythology with a gothic fairytale undercurrent for the story's sinister swimming pool". Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon were announced to star, with James Wan and Jason Blum producing under their banners, Atomic Monster and Blumhouse Productions, respectively.[4] In April, Amélie Hoeferle, Gavin Warren, Nancy Lenehan and Jodi Long were added to the cast.[3]
Filming
Principal photography began on April 11, 2023, in Altadena, California and the Los Angeles region, and lasted 34 days.[5][1]
Music
Mark Korven, who also scored Blumhouse's The Black Phone (2021), composed the score for the film. McGuire praised the selection of Korven, saying "...his music is on all my writing playlists and pitched him my vision for the music feeling like it could only come from the water, like some drowned choir rising from the depths, and he was in. He is such a sweet and gifted dude. Only Mark could create sounds this strange and chilling". To reflect the film's influences, McGuire incorporated pop songs from the 1980s to the soundtrack, such as having the character of Ray Waller have a thing for 80s metal to have the character feel like he's drawn to the past.[1]
Release
Night Swim is scheduled to be released in the United States by Universal Pictures on January 5, 2024.[6] It was previously scheduled to be released on January 19, 2024.[4]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "'"Night Swim Production Notes" (.DOCX). Universal Pictures/Getty Images. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
- ↑ "The First Night Swim Trailer Teases A Deadly Game Of Marco Polo". Fangoria. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- 1 2 3 D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 19, 2023). "Amélie Hoeferle, Gavin Warren, Nancy Lenehan & Jodi Long Join Blumhouse & Atomic Monster For A Night Swim". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
- 1 2 3 D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 10, 2023). "Atomic Monster & Blumhouse Going For Night Swim With Wyatt Russell & Kerry Condon; Bryce McGuire Directing & Writing". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ↑ James Wan [@creepypuppet] (April 11, 2023). "Going for a midnight dip on the set of Night Swim with the great team of director @brycejmcguire and DP @charlie_sarroff". Archived from the original on May 6, 2023 – via Instagram.
- ↑ Galuppo, Mia (April 7, 2023). "Blumhouse Horror Night Swim Moves Up January Release". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
