Trivia / Deep Blue Sea

• Actor-Inspired Element: Samuel L. Jackson played a big role in his character's sudden death scene having more "oomph."
  • Originally, he was given an even lengthier speech before he died, but both he and the FX team thought that the dialogue was absolutely terrible (his speech was apparently seven pages long in the script), so he asked them "You know, why don't you just kill me?" At first, director Renny Harlin resisted, wanting the whole speech to be completed before the death. But after a poor test screening, he finally relented, and a new editor cut the death to happen mid-sentence. And thus was born one of the film's most famous scenes. Jackson later called the head of the team and said "Best. Death. Ever!"
    • It's important to note that this death scene was the whole reason why Jackson signed on in the first place. Originally, he was offered the role of the cook (ultimately played by LL Cool J), but Jackson's management team thought the part was beneath him. So Harlin invented the character of Franklin specifically to kill him off in a memorable fashion, which Jackson found delightful.
• All-Star Cast: The cast includes familiar faces like Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, Samuel L. Jackson, LL Cool J, and Stellan Skarsgård.
• Awesome, Dear Boy: Samuel L. Jackson happily signed on for the film, as he had enjoyed his experience working with Renny Harlin on The Long Kiss Goodnight.
• Based on a Dream: The story was conceived by Australian screenwriter Duncan Kennedy after he witnessed a "horrific" shark attack on a beach near his home. The tragedy contributed to a recurring nightmare of him "being in a passageway with sharks that could read his mind". This motivated him to write a spec script, while acknowledging the challenge of approaching a shark film without repeating Jaws.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Samuel L. Jackson was initially offered the role of Preacher, but his management didn't like the idea of him playing a chef and turned it down, so Renny Harlin created the role of Russell Franklin for him.
• Deleted Role: Ronny Cox shows up very briefly (in what's otherwise The Cameo in the finished film - he's not even credited) as the company partner and co-CEO of Russell Franklin in the beginning, and has no lines whatsoever. It is presumed that any dialogue Cox's character had was cut from the finished product.
• Deleted Scene:
  • There was cut footage that made clear that the relationship between Dr. Whitlock and Janice was not only sexual, but that she was pregnant with his child. This was cut on the basis that it would have made Janice's death "not feel right", according to Renny Harlin.
  • The film originally ended with Susan killing the shark and embracing Carter. After negative test audience reactions, this was changed to have her sacrifice herself to prevent the shark from escaping, while Preacher and Carter survived the film.
• Dueling Movies: With Lake Placid, both were aquatic animal-themed horror movies released in July 1999.
• Enforced Method Acting: For one scene, Thomas Jane had to swim alongside a real live shark. He was only allowed to shoot this once he had completed all of his other scenes.
• Focus Group Ending: The film was originally set to end with Susan not only surviving, but delivering the fatal blow to the shark, before embracing Carter. However, during test screenings of the film, audience members were so incensed at Susan, who orchestrated the whole disaster and was unlikeable to boot, that they repeatedly yelled "Die, Bitch!" during the final act. They also disliked that LL Cool J's Preacher had to die during the ending. As a result, the ending was reshot to have Susan perform a Heroic Sacrifice to stop the shark from escaping the perimeter fence, while her role was slightly toned down and Preacher's was beefed up to make him more of a heroic character.
• Looping Lines: A significant portion of the film had to be re-dubbed because of an outbreak of crickets on the underwater base set that would constantly chirp through every scene.
• Prop Recycling: The orange colored mini-sub visible in the wet-entry area was the same mini-sub seen in the end of Sphere, also starring Samuel L. Jackson.
• Referenced by...: The "Samuel L. Jackson Beer" skit from Chappelle's Show reminds us that he's eaten by a shark in this movie.
• Technology Marches On: Ridiculous science aside, Susan's research may have been in danger of getting lost anyway because they were saved on iOmega ZIP disks. ZIP disks held more data than floppy disks, but the mechanism on the disk itself was prone to getting caught in the hard drive and corrupt the data. They completely fell out of favor after USB sticks were introduced to the market, which held way more data, were easier to use, and were way more durable (if nothing else, they're waterproof).
• Throw It In!:
  • A somewhat dark example: the scene where everyone is running away from the water after the lab window breaks actually happened: the tank broke and the actors had to suddenly run away from three tons of water. The terror in their faces as they run for their lives is real. Renny Harlin decided to keep the footage in.
  • Samuel L. Jackson improvised the Fantasy Island joke.
• Uncredited Role: On Mary Kay Bergman's website, she confirmed that she did the parrot's speech and Frank Welker did the squawking and the credits only listed Frank Welker as the parrot.
• Vacation, Dear Boy: In the DVD Commentary, both Renny Harlin and Samuel L. Jackson admit that the only reason the actor agreed to be in the movie was he got to golf between his takes (although Jackson also admitted he liked the prospect of reuniting with Harlin and being in a monster movie similar to ones he grew up watching).

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