Shark Stories II–“Open Water”: This movie is setting up to be the Blair Witch Project of the aquatic world. It’s about a scuba-diving couple who were left behind by their dive boat, and it was made on a shoestring budget by a semi-amateur couple who love to dive. The New York Times has two great stories about this movie. The first recounts the six years it took Chris Kentis and Laura Lau to make the movie (which cost $130,000 and got picked up at Sundance for $2.5 million). From the beginning it wasn’t a normal project:

“Mr. Kentis and Ms. Lau cautioned casting agents that some nudity would be required for the pre-dive scenes and that, once in the water, actors would have to get super-close to some very big sharks — no mechanical or computer-generated jaws in this movie.”

And they ended up with a lead actress who was scared to death of sharks (but didn’t tell anyone until it was mostly over), and a lead actor who blew out his knee halfway through the project.

The second NYT piece probes the mystery of the real-life story which Open Water is based on:

“The real-life couple, Thomas and Eileen Lonergan, traveled to Australia after three years as Peace Corps teachers on the islands of Fiji and Tuvalu. Thomas was 33, Eileen 28; both were experienced divers. Australia was the first stop of a planned round-the-world trip before returning home to Louisiana.

Early on Jan. 25, 1998, the Lonergans rode a shuttle bus to a marina in Port Douglas, Queensland, where a company called Outer Edge Dive carried them and 24 others to the rim of the Great Barrier Reef, 40 miles offshore. The day’s last dive was at a coral formation called “Fish City” because of its abundant marine life. While others followed a dive master, the Lonergans toured the site on their own.

At the end of the 40-minute dive, the crew was supposed to log each person’s dive and count heads before the boat left. But several crew members were inexperienced and uncertain of their responsibilities. Amid this confusion, the Lonergans’ dives weren’t recorded and the head count was botched. The captain, believing he had all passengers aboard, motored back to Port Douglas.”

Oops. The Lonergans were never seen again, and assumed to be victims of shark attack. But questions quickly arose as to whether they had truly been the victims of an accident, or whether they had perpetrated a bizarre suicide pact. None of their equipment, which washed up in various places, showed any sign of shark bite. Thomas Lonergan’s diary, left in his hotel room, contained references to being ready to die. And they had deliberately separated from their dive group and stayed down beyond the agreed dive time. In the end, authorities concluded that it was not a suicide pact, or an attempt to disappear together. But the tale is so bizarre that Kentis and Lau had to tone it down for fear that no one in a theater would believe the true story. The last trace of the Lonergan’s turned up six months after their disappearance:

“In a coastal mangrove swamp, fishermen found a dive slate, designed for underwater writing. On it was a message from the Lonergans saying they’d been abandoned on the reef by Outer Edge. “Please help us,” it said. “Find us soon before we die.” They also scribbled the time and date: 8 a.m., Jan. 26, the morning after they had been left behind.”

The movie opens Friday. Wonder whether the scuba dive industry is worried whether it will have a Jaws-like impact on dive tours…



Filming “Open Water”: “Well, I’m having no trouble acting scared…”

(Photo: Lions Gate Films)