Baltasar Kormakur, the filmmaker behind survival dramas Everest and Adrift, is sitting behind the camera for the feature, which has a script written by Max Landis.

Deeper is supernatural thriller that centers on a disgraced astronaut, to be played by Elba, who is on a deep-sea dive exploring a newly discovered trench but soon finds himself confronted by a sinister and dangerous force. The tone has been described as being similar to recent hits Gravity and The Martian.

Elba’s casting brings the storied project one step closer to actually going in front of cameras. MGM paid seven figures to acquire the script in 2016 from the high-priced scribe Landis. The project also had Bradley Cooper and Gal Gadot attached to star and Kornel Mundruczo, the Hungarian director behind White God, attached to direct. However, one by one the players fell off and MGM was forced to decide whether to let it go or rebuild. It chose the latter.

David Goyer, Kevin Turen, Russell Ackerman, John Schoenfelder and Landis are producing the project. The heavily in-demand Elba is currently filming Working Title and Universal’s adaptation of Cats, in which he plays the feline Macavity. After having wrapped the villain role in Fast & Furious spinoff Hobbs & Shaw. Last year saw him appear in Avengers: Infinity War and topline another season of detective show Luther.

Elba is repped by WME and Hertz Lichtenstein.