Zach Cregger Says His Next Film THE FLOOD Channels the Bizarre Horror of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

After unleashing Barbarian, Weapons, and Resident Evil, Zach Creggeris preparing to take audiences somewhere much stranger with his upcoming sci-fi feature The Flood.

Early info made the project sound like Cregger might be heading into Event Horizon territory, but the filmmaker has now pointed toward another sci-fi classic with Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Cregger isn’t putting his movie on the same pedestal as Kubrick’s masterpiece. He’s interested in the bizarre, unnerving quality of 2001 and the huge questions lurking beneath its science-fiction story.

Speaking with Men’s Health, Cregger explained: "I'm not comparing [The Flood] to 2001, because I think 2001 is a true masterpiece in every sense of the word.

"But there's a bizarreness to that movie that's really undeniable, and it's also a horror movie. I think 2001 is a really thrilling horror movie about human nature, and obviously about artificial intelligence, but it asks big questions. And I think, in that way, there's some similarity with Flood.

That gives us a much better idea of what Cregger is chasing. The Flood sounds like it will be more like a strange and disturbing sci-fi story that happens to contain some gnarly horror sequences.

Cregger offered a little more insight into how the story is constructed: "It's another bizarre narrative structure in the way that Weapons and Barbarian are, but it's not jumping perspectives.

“It unfolds in a very unique way that I'm really proud of. It's disturbing, but it's not a horror movie, although there are horror scenes in it. It feels intimidating to me. I'm still not really sure how to make it, but I think that's a good thing.

“It's hard to talk about it without talking about the story. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to make that movie. I’m in love with that story in a really unique way."

I like that the filmmaker is intimidated by his own idea. Barbarian and Weapons both played with structure and audience expectations, and it sounds like The Flood will continue that approach without simply repeating the perspective shifts of those films.

The movie will also bring Cregger together with Steven Spielberg and Amblin Pictures.The Flood was originally headed to Netflix, but Cregger wanted a traditional theatrical release. The project ultimately landed at Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema, where it has been fast-tracked and scheduled to hit theaters on August 11, 2028.

Cregger previously explained during early press for Resident Evil that the whole idea came together because he suddenly had an opportunity to develop something with Spielberg.

"Flood, I kind of came up with the idea because I was very excited to work with Steven Spielberg, and we had a weird situation where there was a short window where I could have an idea and we could link up together."

That left him with about five days to come up with something worth pursuing. "So I had like five days, basically, to have an idea. And I entered a mental state I have yet to ever repeat or do prior where I was in some sort of frenzy where I was just like, ‘I’ve got to have an idea for Steven Spielberg!’ I was just in a frenzy."

The breakthrough eventually came while Cregger was watching a movie with his wife, Sara Paxton. A character entered an abandoned spacecraft, Paxton made an observation about being stranded in space, and Cregger's brain apparently went into overdrive.

"And then I was watching this movie, and somebody in the movie I was watching was entering an abandoned spaceship," Cregger stated.

"And my wife was like, ‘There’s nothing scarier than being trapped in space.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s interesting. Maybe there’s something here.’ And then this character goes into the ship, and they find something that was pretty weird and scared them.

“And I was thinking, ‘What would be weirder and scarier than that? What could happen in this scenario that would freak me out more than this?’ And it’s never happened to me before, but in a flash, I had the whole movie explode in front of my eyes.

“I just knew what it could be; I think I probably stood up and was like, ‘I have it!’ It was a totally ridiculous moment, but I love it."

Cregger offered another piece of the puzzle where he again stressed that The Flood shouldn't be treated as another traditional horror movie, even if it could end up being more unsettling than his previous work.

"Flood is not quite as horror central as the other movies (altho it might be the most unsettling), and it does have horror moments and aspects (this answer sucks), but I think what I meant was that after Barbarian I wrote Weapons and Resident Evil and Flood in kind of a burst of activity," Cregger replied to a fan.

"Those 3 movies were all ready to go, in fact, there was a world I could have shot Flood first. I had 3 movies, and I was trying to get whichever one was ready to go."

Cregger still hasn't revealed the actual plot, but his comments certainly give us some pieces to play with and think about.

No cast has been announced either. Paxton has appeared in Cregger's previous movies, while Austin Abrams and Justin Long are among the actors he has worked with multiple times, but there's currently no confirmation that any of them will appear in The Flood.

Whatever Cregger is cooking up, I have no doubt will deliver some great entertainment. The Flood is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on August 11, 2028.