Netflix Confirms ‘Under Paris 2’ for 2027, and the Sharks Are Back With a Vengeance
Netflix has made it official. The streaming giant announced on X that ‘Under Paris 2’ is coming in 2027, dropping a striking first-look poster that shows a swarm of sharks twisting together to form the number two, with the iconic skeleton of the Eiffel Tower looming behind them in the deep. It is a bold visual statement from a franchise that already proved it can make the world pay attention.
The original ‘Under Paris’ debuted on Netflix on June 5, 2024, and it quickly became a phenomenon, breaking records as the platform’s biggest-ever launch for a non-English language film with more than 102.3 million views. It remains to this day the second most-watched non-English film in Netflix history, sitting just behind the Norwegian monster movie ‘Troll’. Numbers like that practically guarantee a sequel, and now it is happening.
Netflix has tapped horror veteran Alexandre Aja to direct the follow-up, replacing original filmmaker Xavier Gens who helmed the first installment. Aja is a natural fit for the material, bringing his experience with aquatic horror from directing both ‘Piranha 3D’ and ‘Crawl’, the latter of which trapped a father and daughter with alligators during a hurricane. His arrival signals that the sequel is likely to push the spectacle and the carnage to a new level.
Oscar-nominated ‘The Artist’ actress Bérénice Bejo, who played grieving scientist Sophia in the first film, is expected to return, along with producer Vincent Roget. Casting calls operating under the working title ‘Paris Sous Les Eaux’, which translates to ‘Paris Under Water’, suggest the sequel will lean into the consequences of a massive Parisian flood, with production set to take place across both Paris and Marseille.
The original film earned harsh criticism in France, where local genre movies rarely find mainstream acceptance, but became a massive international hit that even drew praise from horror legend Stephen King, who admitted he initially assumed it would be a joke along the lines of ‘Sharknado’ before finding it genuinely impressive. That crossover appeal helped it dominate Netflix’s global charts for an extended run.
The original film was made with a budget in the range of €15 to €20 million, a relatively modest sum for a disaster-scale shark thriller, and director Xavier Gens previously told Variety that getting it financed through traditional channels in France proved nearly impossible because industry insiders assumed shark movies could only be made by American or Korean filmmakers. The sequel’s global rollout suggests that perception has shifted dramatically.
With the 2027 release window now locked in and Aja behind the camera, ‘Under Paris 2’ is shaping up to be one of Netflix’s most anticipated international productions. The sharks are circling and the city of light may not survive the flood.
