Private Project

The Black Demon

Oilman Paul Sturges (Lucas) takes his family on vacation to Bahia Azul. There, the coastal town he and his wife once knew has mysteriously crumbled and the locals are nowhere to be found. Paul starts off his day with a routine visit to inspect his nearby oil rig, but before he knows it, his entire family has landed with him on the rotting metal tower. From the depths of the ocean rises a massive megalodon known only by its name: the Black Demon. Under constant threat from this primeval species of shark, Paul must find a way to get his family back to shore alive.

  • Adrian Grunberg
    Director
    Get the Gringo, Rambo: Last Blood
  • Boise Esquerra
    Writer
  • Javier Chapa
    Producer
    Blue Miracle
  • Jon Silk
    Producer
    It
  • Josh Lucas
    Key Cast
    "Paul Sturges"
    Sweet Home Alabama, Ford v. Ferrari
  • Fernanda Urrejola
    Key Cast
    "Ines Sturges"
    Cry Macho, Narcos
  • Julio Cesar Cedillo
    Key Cast
    "Chato"
    Sicario, A Million Miles Away, Narcos
  • Omar Chaparro
    Key Cast
    "Topo"
    No manches Frida, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    action, thriller, family drama, shark
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 34 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    September 26, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    8,500,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Dominican Republic
  • Language:
    English, Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Distribution Information
  • Highland Film Group
    Sales Agent
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
  • The Avenue
    Distributor
    Country: United States
    Rights: Theatrical
  • Amazon Prime Video
    Distributor
    Country: United States
    Rights: Video on Demand
  • Amazon Prime Video
    Distributor
    Country: Mexico
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Argentina
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Guatemala
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Brazil
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Ecuador
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Belize
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Dominican Republic
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: El Salvador
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Haiti
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Honduras
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Jamaica
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Nicaragua
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Panama
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Saint Lucia
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Colombia
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Bolivia, Plurinational State of
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Chile
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Paraguay
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Peru
    Rights: Video on Demand
    Country: Uruguay
    Rights: Video on Demand
Director Biography - Adrian Grunberg

Adrian Grünberg is a Latinx screenwriter and director who has worked on more than 25 feature films and television projects both internationally as well as in his adoptive country of México. He attended film school at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and would later make the move to Mexico City where he continued to grow his career. He got his start in the business by working as a first AD in highly acclaimed movies alongside such notable directors including John Sayles on MEN WITH GUNS, Julie Taymor on FRIDA, Peter Weir’s MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD, Tony Scott for MAN ON FIRE, Mel Gibson’s APOCALYPTO, Jim Jarmusch’s THE LIMITS OF CONTROL, and Oliver Stone’s WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS. In television he has worked in close collaboration on the shows NARCOS, NARCOS: MEXICO, and the Wachowski’s SENSE8. But it was his close creative relationship alongside Mel Gibson which marked the dawn of his directorial career. He co-wrote GET THE GRINGO with Gibson and longtime partner, Stacy Perskie, which he then went on to direct with Gibson starring in the lead. Since then, he has directed on the Netflix television series, NARCOS, NARCOS: MEXICO, LUIS MIGUEL and in Gael Garcia Bernal’s AQUI EN LA TIERRA (Here on Earth), for which he was nominated as best series at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. He also directed the latest installment of the Rambo franchise, RAMBO: LAST BLOOD starring Sylvester Stallone in 2019. In 2021, Adrian directed the thriller THE BLACK DEMON about a killer shark off the coast of Baja, starring Josh Lucas and produced by Mucho Mas Media and Silk Mass scheduled to be released theatrically in Spring of 2023.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I'm so proud of the film we made with THE BLACK DEMON. Every generation has a great creature feature—some are lucky enough to have a few. The best of these films make us jump and scream and sometimes cry, but beyond that, the creatures are stand-ins for something larger than entertainment and larger than ourselves as filmgoers and filmmakers.

With THE BLACK DEMON, we set out to tell a story about a family coming together to survive an existential threat. But more than that, THE BLACK DEMON is a movie about how we've mistreated the earth and put ourselves in this very predicament—we've made our bed, and now we must lie in it. The titular creature is not a hellbent, unkind predator, but rather a physical embodiment of retribution. The Black Demon is an emissary acting on behalf of Tlaloc (the Aztec god of rain and fertility) to reclaim an ocean that was laid to waste by human greed and desire. At the core of this film is this very tension of who is right and who is wrong; who are the real monsters of our time?

I hope you enjoy the film and take a bit of it with you when the curtains close.

Gracias.
-AG