Open Water (film series)

The Open Water film series consists of American-distributed standalone survival-horror and natural horror-shark thriller movies, inspired by the real-life disappearance of Tom and Eileen Lonergan.[1][2][3] The overall plot centers around individuals who are stranded in the ocean and must fight to survive the hours alone.

Open Water
Official film series logo
Based onloosely on a True Story
Distributed byWarner Bros. Entertainment
Release date
2003–2017
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget~$2,068,100
(Total of 3 films)
Box office$64,001,222
(Total of 3 films)

Initially developed as minimalist oceanic survival movies, Lionsgate expanded upon the individual scripts to create the series of movies.[1] The first film was a massive financial and critical success,[4][5] with film critics praising its minimalistic filmmaking.[6] Though developed as a drama which fictionalized adaptation of the disappearance of the Lonergans,[7] the studio marketed the movie with horror genre tactics; something that modern analysis attributes to some of its success, with some calling Open Water "the most terrifying shark movie ever made",[8] and "the scariest horror movie based on a true story".[9] The sequels were met with mixed-at-best and poor respective critical reception,[10][11] while both fared well overall financially.[12][13]

Films

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Film U.S.
release date
Director Screenwriter(s) Story by Producer(s)
Open Water August 6, 2004 (2004-08-06) Chris Kentis Laura Lau
Open Water 2: Adrift February 20, 2007 (2007-02-20) Hans Horn [de] Adam Kreutner & David Mitchell and
Collin McMahon & Richard Speight, Jr.
Dan Maag and Philip Schulz-Deyle
Open Water 3: Cage Dive August 11, 2017 (2017-08-11) Gerald Rascionato Gerald Rascionato & Stephen Lister Charles M. Barsamian, Rana Joy Glickman, Jake Gray, Antoine Mouawad and Gerald Rascionato

Open Water (2004)

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Daniel and Susan take a tropical vacation, which includes scuba-diving adventures. Excited for their diving certifications, the pair dive deeper than the rest of their group and get separated. Following an incorrect head-count and believing the entire class is accounted for, the boat returns to land. When the couple resurfaces, they see a vessel in the distance and decide to wait for its return. As time passes, and stranded miles from shore with Caribbean reef sharks stalking them below, the likelihood of their survival grows smaller by the moment.[14]

Open Water 2: Adrift (2007)

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Amy and James, with their baby Sarah, travel to Mexico to celebrate their friend Zach's thirtieth birthday. Upon arriving, they're reunited with common friends, Zach, Lauren, and Dan. Together they set sail on Dan's new yacht, where they're introduced to his new girlfriend named Michelle. The group party, drinking alcohol while they reminisce. When they stop for a swim, Amy stays in the boat with her baby and no intention to join the rest, due to a childhood traumatic event in the ocean. Dan keeps her company for a time, before he picks her up and throws her into the water below. Irresponsibly, he falls overboard as well. Once everyone is in the water, it's realized that no one lowered the ladder while they were on deck. Following hours of struggling and failing to climb the freeboard, Michelle claims that she saw sharks in the water and unsettling exhaustion overtakes the group. Stranded in the open waters of the Pacific Ocean, panic and desperation leads to a tragic fight for survival; while Amy must use her motherly instincts to return to her daughter, to overcome her fears. As time passes, their chances of survival lessen.

Open Water 3: Cage Dive (2017)

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Determined to experience adrenaline-filled thrills of coming face-to-face with great white sharks, three friends from California travel to Australia for a cage-diving encounter. Josh, together with his half-brother Jeff and Jeff's girlfriend Megan, set out to film an audition tape for an extreme stunts reality-TV show. Tensions arise when Jeff discovers that Josh and Megan are having an affair. Things take a despairing turn while they are in the safety of the shark-proof cage, when a rogue wave capsizes their boat leaving the trio stranded in the open water of the sea. As the day turns to night, hysteric fear overtakes them as a swarm of hungry sharks hunt them from below. As the predators close in on them, the friends do all they can to survive until morning.[15]

Main cast and characters

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List indicators

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in more than two films in the series.

  • An empty, dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
  •  Y indicates a younger version of the character.
Character Films
Open Water Open Water 2:
Adrift
Open Water 3:
Cage Dive
2003/2004 2007 2017
Susan Watkins Blanchard Ryan  
Daniel Kintner Daniel Travis  
Amy   Susan May Pratt
Alexandra RaachY
 
James   Richard Speight, Jr.  
Dan   Eric Dane  
Michelle   Cameron Richardson  
Zach   Niklaus Lange  
Lauren   Ali Hillis  
Sarah   Mattea Gabarretta &
Christine Gabarratta
 
Jeff Miller   Joel Hogan
Josh Miller   Josh Potthoff
Megan Murphy   Megan Peta Hill

Additional crew and production details

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Film Crew/Detail
Composer(s) Cinematographer(s) Editor(s) Production
companies
Distributing
company
Running time
Open Water Graeme Revell Chris Kentis & Laura Lau Chris Kentis Lions Gate Films,
Plunge Pictures LLC,
Eastgate Pictures
Lions Gate Films 89 minutes
Open Water 2: Adrift Gerd Baumann Bernhard Jasper Christian Lonk Summit Entertainment,
Universum Film,
Orange Pictures,
Peter Rommel Productions,
Shotgun Pictures,
FilmFernsehFonds Bayern
Lions Gate Entertainment 94 minutes
Open Water 3: Cage Dive Andy Grush & Taylor Newton Stewart Gerald Tascionato & Andy Bambach Gerald Rascionato, Antoine Mouawad & Andre Stamatakakos Lionsgate Home Entertainment,
Just One More Productions,
Exit Strategy Productions
Lionsgate 80 minutes

Reception

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Box office and financial performance

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Film Box office gross Box office ranking Video
sales gross
Worldwide
gross total
Budget Ref.
North America Other territories Worldwide All-time
North America
All-time
worldwide
North America
Open Water $30,610,863 $25,017,759 $55,628,622 #2,786 #2,783 Information not publicly available >$55,628,622 $500,000 [4][16]
Open Water 2: Adrift $6,816,129 $6,816,129 Information not publicly available Information not publicly available Information not publicly available >6,816,129 ~$1,448,100[failed verification] [12]
Open Water 3: Cage Dive $1,486,774 $1,486,774 #8,434 #12,696 $69,697 $1,556,471 $120,000 [13][17]
Totals $30,610,863 $33,320,662 $63,931,525 #3,740 #5,160 $69,697 >$64,001,222 ~$2,068,100

Critical and public response

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Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic
Open Water 71% (196 reviews)[5] 63/100 (38 reviews)[18]
Open Water 2: Adrift 45% (11 reviews)[10]
Open Water 3: Cage Dive 25% (8 reviews)[11] TBD[19]

References

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  1. ^ a b Kohn, Eric (August 10, 2017). "'Open Water': How a $500,000 Indie Launched a 14-Year-Old Horror Franchise". IndieWire. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  2. ^ Molgaard, Matthew (August 12, 2017). "'Open Water 3: Cage Dive' Has a Surprisingly Strong Pulse (Review)". Addicted to Horror Movies. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  3. ^ "Open Water 3-Film Collection Blu-ray". Bluray.com. Bluray.com. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Open Water". Box Office Mojo.
  5. ^ a b "Open Water (2003)" – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  6. ^ Ebert, Roger (August 6, 2004). "'Open Water' churns emotions with quiet terror". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  7. ^ Motamayor, Rafael (June 17, 2024). "Horror Film Open Water Was Derived From A Terrifying And Very Real Shark Encounter". SlashFilm. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  8. ^ Larman, Alexander (August 15, 2023). "Two actors, one boat, no CGI: why Open Water is the most terrifying shark movie ever made". Telegraph. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  9. ^ Van Horn, Shawn (April 3, 2024). "This Is the Scariest Horror Movie Based on a True Story". Collider. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Open Water 2: Adrift (2006)" – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  11. ^ a b "Open Water 3: Cage Dive (2017)" – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  12. ^ a b "Open Water 2: Adrift". Box Office Mojo.
  13. ^ a b "Open Water 3: Cage Dive (2017) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
  14. ^ Scheib, Ronnie (November 4, 2003). "Open Water". Variety. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  15. ^ Halen, Adrian (December 29, 2017). "Film Review: Open Water 3 Cage Dive (2017)". HorrorNews.Net. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  16. ^ "Open Water (2004) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
  17. ^ Weinman, Steve (December 2017). "Cage Dive Written & Directed by Gerald Rascionato". Divernet. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  18. ^ "Open Water" – via www.metacritic.com.
  19. ^ "Open Water 3: Cage Dive" – via www.metacritic.com.