Paramount's 'Crawl' Sequel Casts Mason Gooding and Emily Rudd, Alexandre Aja Returns to Direct
Mason Gooding and Emily Rudd have been cast in the sequel to the 2019 horror thriller 'Crawl'. Alexandre Aja, who directed the original, will return to direct the follow-up for Paramount.
The upcoming production will shoot in Hungary later this month. The plot shifts the action from a Florida residence to New York City, where a hurricane unleashes alligators onto city streets and into the sewer system. The screenplay was crafted by Jason Harry Pagan and Andrew Deutschman, with additional contributions from Aja and Gregory Levasseur.
Gooding brings recent roles in Netflix's 'Hours' and Gregg Araki's 'I Want Your Sex' to the project, while Rudd, known for leading Netflix's 'One Piece', will appear in the upcoming 'Whalefall' this October. The original 2019 film, starring Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper, was a financial success, earning $91.5 million against a budget under $14 million.
The sequel's relocation to a major urban center could broaden the appeal of the survival-horror subgenre by introducing a familiar, densely populated setting to a premise previously confined to a single house. This shift may attract audiences who enjoy disaster films mixed with creature features, potentially boosting box office returns for Paramount. Furthermore, the casting of rising stars like Gooding and Rudd could draw younger demographics, while the involvement of established producers like Sam Raimi might signal a continued market appetite for mid-budget theatrical horror.