Last Thursday Disney revealed its release calendar, and thus we found out about the existence of Strange World. This upcoming animated film, directed by Don Hall (Raya and the Last Dragon), narrates the adventures of a family of explorers in fantastic lands, and is set for release on November 23, 2022. No further details have been given about its plot, and in any case these would have been overshadowed by the big news that Deadline picked up: Deep Water, set for next January 14, has been pulled from this same schedule. The House of Mouse has not revealed an alternate date, so the film is currently in limbo.
But, what is Deep Water? Well, an erotic thriller that began filming in New Orleans in November 2019, bringing together Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas. The title of the film exploded over social media as it served as a framework for Affleck and De Armas to meet and fall in love, initiating a romantic relationship that lasted almost a year and caused Deep Water to be involved in an inevitable morbidity. Especially since the film tells the story of a married couple formed by Vic and Melinda Van Allen (Affleck and De Armas), whose twisted sexual games seek to avoid divorce, while causing the enigmatic death of several people. It is based on a novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith.
If the synopsis wasn’t enough, Deep Water is directed by a staple of the late 20th century erotic thriller genre: Adrian Lyne. The man behind Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal hadn’t directed for almost 20 years when he agreed to take over Deep Water, from a script by Zack Helm and Sam Levinson (Euphoria creator). In addition to Affleck and De Armas, the cast of the film backed by 20th Century Studios features Tracy Letts, Lil Rel Howery and Dash Mihok, consolidating the commercial appeal of a film whose withdrawal from the Disney lineup is a mystery.
The major has not given details as to why that was done, but fortunately it is only a slight stumbling block in De Armas’ rising career. After appearing in hits like Knives Out and No Time to Die, the actress of Cuban descent plans to appear in The Gray Man (an expensive Netflix action movie co-starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans), Blonde (the Marilyn Monroe biopic, which has also caused Netflix considerable trouble), Ghosted (where De Armas replaces Scarlett Johansson) and in a John Wick spin-off titled Ballerina.
It remains to be seen if Disney ends up giving Deep Water an alternate date, or we have to say goodbye to it until it is released undercover via streaming.
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