Marvel & DC Stars to Headline New Shark Thriller Zipline

The renaissance of sharksploitation films continues, as Variety is reporting that MCU star Ioan Gruffudd and DC’s Ross Butler are set to team up for the new thriller, Zipline. Gruffudd portrayed Reed Richards in 2005’s Fantastic Four and its 2007 sequel, while Butler recently appeared in both Shazam! and Shazam! Fury of the Gods as Superhero Eugene.

Directed by Magnus Martens (Fear the Walking Dead) and written by George Mahaffey Jr. (Chief of Station), Zipline also stars Holland Roden (Teen Wolf, Mayans MC) and Sonia Ammar (Scream, The Equalizer 3). Produced by Simple House Films, international rights are held by Black Bear, who will be presenting it to buyers at the American Film Market later this month. Based on the synopsis alone, it appears to be a fun flick which combines some of our favorite things, including a tropical setting, a ticking-clock premise, and, of course, sharks. Check it out below.

“After reuniting for a relaxing getaway on a tropical island, a group of college friends find their adventurous spirits tested to the limit when an exhilarating zipline excursion leaves them hanging perilously hundreds of feet over a deserted lagoon. As the temperature rises and the zipline begins to collapse, they work together to find a way down but are horrified to discover that an even greater threat awaits them in the depths below.”

Sharks Are Big Business Right Now

While shark thrillers have always been a mainstay in the nature run amok subgenre of horror, they’ve lingered in the background in recent years after their renewed hype thanks to 2013’s Sharknado. 2018’s Meg helped bring them back into the limelight, as did its sequel last year, which took in nearly $400 million at the box office. 2024 has seen an even greater resurgence, with no less than five movies being released centering around everyone’s favorite aquatic killer rising from the deep to chomp down on human flesh.

Most notable were the Netflix hit Under Paris – the French film by director Xavier Gens that was viewed by 40 million people in its first week of release – as well as No Way Up by director Claudio Fäh, about the survivors of a plane crash trying to survive shark infested waters. While they never achieved any recognition of note from critics, audiences fell in love with the two flicks thanks to our ever-present fear of sharks that’s been instilled in us ever since we first watched JAWS for the first time. There’s just something about one of Earth’s oldest predators that causes our pulse to quicken and palms to clam up, and filmmakers know this, and as such, their exploitation will continue into 2025.

Already announced for next year is Beneath the Storm, which has tapped Violent Night’s Tommy Wirkola to direct, and Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor to star alongside A Quiet Place Day One’s Djimon Hounsou. JAWS star Richard Dreyfuss will also return to the subgenre in 2025 for Into the Deep, and it was announced back in May that the popular 47 Meters Down franchise will be getting a third entry that will be directed by genre auteur Partick Lussier.

While it’s not easy to pinpoint why sharks are seeing a renaissance in film as of late, we’re not going to complain. With slashers being all the rage right now, we’ll gladly welcome their comeback to diversify the box office, if for nothing more than to hopefully get a pretty cool popcorn bucket next year that will rival the one we got with Meg 2: The Trench.