‘Dark Tide’ Director Happy with Lionsgate Strategy

20 Apr, 2012 By: Chris Tribbey

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In April 2011 nearly two-dozen directors and producers came out against the idea of a film being released on VOD at a higher cost before it hits theaters.

Director John Stockwell (Into the Blue, Turistas) was not one of them.

“It’s what’s coming,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of films that succeeded with a VOD release before [theaters]. I think it’s a good way to get people excited about films.”

So when Lionsgate decided to release Stockwell’s action thriller Dark Tide, starring Halle Berry, on VOD March 8, three weeks before its limited theatrical run, the director had no qualms about the strategy. Lionsgate releases the film on DVD ($27.98) and Blu-ray Disc ($29.99) April 24.

Despite working on the water before for films such as Into the Blue and Blue Crush, Dark Tide — which sees Berry as a traumatized shark expert who leads a great white shark swimming expedition for money — presented some unique challenges for him, Stockwell said. For one, the real sharks in the film were much more dangerous than anything Stockwell had worked with before, he said.

“The sharks don’t read storyboards,” Stockwell said. “Sometimes the best stuff happens off camera.”

Berry wasn’t well trained with free diving, an issue for a script that called for her to be filmed underwater for hours at a time. And it didn’t help that Berry was easily seasick on a film mostly shot on an open-water boat.

Olivier Martinez — Berry’s real-life fiancé, and ex-boyfriend in the film — turned out to be the solution for that last problem, Stockwell said.

“We casted him two days before shooting, and he was a perfect fit,” he said. “Halle gets seasick easy, but Olivier grew up on boats, and he was a great comfort to her.”

Stockwell shot Dark Tide using multiple formats, sometimes to give it a documentary feel, other times to call attention to the wide ocean expanse off the coast of South Africa. He says it all turns out well on Blu-ray.

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