Black Tides: Renny Harlin to direct survival thriller based on real-life orca attacks (2025)

Wikipedia informs us that, between the years of 2020 and 2024, “2020 to 2024, “there were at least five hundred reports of orcas interacting with boats off the Atlantic coast of Spain and Portugal, an unusual and unprecedented behavior.” And Deadline reports that Renny Harlin, whose directing credits include Deep Blue Sea, Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, and The Strangers: Chapter 1 (as well as the yet-to-be-released Chapters 2 and 3), has signed on to direct the survival thriller Black Tides, which is inspired by the real-life orca attacks.

Written by Chris Sparling (Buried) and Ángel Agudo (Apocalypse Z), the film will tell the story of Rebecca, who reunites with her estranged father, Bill, in sunny Málaga expecting a healing family trip with her young son, Sebastian. Instead, their voyage across the Strait of Gibraltar becomes a nightmare as they’re relentlessly attacked by rogue orcas. Rebecca, confronting deep emotional wounds, must rise as an unlikely hero in a battle for survival.

Black Tides is being produced by Adrián Guerra and Nuria Valls’s Nostromo Pictures. Filming is expected to begin at the end of this summer, and the filmmakers let it be known that it will be “shot old-school, with in-camera effects and real water work.”

Harlin provided the following statement: “This film grabs you by the throat and the heart. I’m going back to the kind of filmmaking I love—intense, physical, and immersive. This one is built for the big screen.” Guerra added, “We’re going back to what makes thrillers unforgettable—precision filmmaking, real tension, and emotional weight. Every shot is designed to build pressure, every choice anchored in character. Shot in real conditions, this is a physical, immersive experience made for the cinema. It doesn’t just entertain—it holds you in its grip.“

I’m always on board as soon as I hear that Renny Harlin is going to be making a new movie, and this one sounds promising to me. Are you looking forward to seeing what Harlin will do with Black Tides? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.