C. Henry Chaisson, writer of indie horror film Antlers and the M. Night Shyamalan series Servant, is adapting Nick Cutter’s 2015 underwater horror-thriller The Deep into a series for Amazon Studios, Deadline reports.
Executive producer Carlton Cuse (Lost) is aboard alongside Bosch exec producers Henrik Bastin and Melissa Aouate. Set in the near future, The Deep centres on a research station at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, where a miraculous discovery signals a new hope for humanity – but secrets unearthed on the ocean floor might hold devastating consequences for the world above.
Though we can’t known how closely Chaisson will stick to the source material for the series adaptation (which Clive Barker called “utterly terrifying”), the official book synopsis for The Deep reveals more about the premise: “A strange plague called the ’Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes people to forget – small things at first, like where they left their keys… then the not-so-small things like how to drive, or the letters of the alphabet. Then their bodies forget how to function involuntarily… and there is no cure.
“But now, far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, deep in the Marianas Trench, an heretofore unknown substance hailed as “ambrosia” has been discovered – a universal healer, from initial reports. It may just be the key to a universal cure. In order to study this phenomenon, a special research lab, the Trieste, has been built eight miles under the sea’s surface. But now the station is incommunicado, and it’s up to a brave few to descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unravelling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths… and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine.”
It sounds like a delightful mix of many classic horror tropes, so you can be sure we’ll update you on project developments as we hear!