Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water... Actually, who are we kidding? We absolutely did not think it was safe to go back in any sort of water at the end of Under Paris, the surprisingly successful French shark movie that whipped up a viewing frenzy when it dropped on Netflix earlier this summer. And yet, despite the somewhat apocalyptic climax to Xavier Gens' *ahem* in-Seine creature feature, the intrepid filmmaker is preparing to dive back into the City of Love's shark infested waters once again with a sequel to his summer smash.
Per Variety's reporting, the key cast from the first flick — or at least, who and what's left of them — are all expected to return for the follow-up, with Academy Award nominee Bérénice Bejo (The Artist) crucially among those bracing to go toe-to-toe with the burgeoning franchise's toothy terrors once more. Whilst plot details for the sequel aren't forthcoming just yet, the wild ending of the first film and director Gens' comments in recent months at least offer some hints as to what we can expect second time around. As anyone who saw the first movie will remember, *SPOILERS* Under Paris ended with the military accidentally blowing up Paris, plunging the city underwater as mutant shark Lilith and her monstrous kin chart a bloody course for the waterways of London, New York, Tokyo, and... well... pretty much the entire world. So Under Paris 2: Lilith Goes Global, then? Possibly. For Gens however, the directive — as he outlined to Variety — for a second film would be to go further into the OG's genre roots whilst taking viewers into "a Paris that is entirely submerged under water.”
Whilst nobody is trying to make the case that Under Paris is the 21st century's answer to Jaws, its rich — if sometimes over-tapped — vein of eco-satire meant that it wasn't quite the Sharknado some may have been fearing either. And so, with the first film's finale teeing up a potentially far more interesting and even crazier sequel to come, Bérénice Bejo's Sophia set to sink her teeth into a rematch with Lilith, and Gens already talking up a potential September 2025 shoot for his sequel, things are falling into place for Under Paris 2 to make quite the splash whenever it hits our screens. And if you're reading this Netflix, we've got your title sorted already. Under Paris 2: Sharkre Bleu! *Mic drop*