Crawl 2 Director Alexandre Aja Gives a Big Update on Sequel

Crawl (2019) was an unexpected breakout success for horror director Alexandre Aja. Despite having years of stacking up cult-hit horror films (High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes (2006), Piranha 3D, Horns), Crawl stands as Aja’s biggest box office success, earning $91 million on a budget of just $13-15M. The film’s premise – a girl trying to survive an attack by giant alligators during a hurricane/flood – was easy to extend into a sequel film, which will change location (NYC) and follow a new set of characters. So what’s taken so long to get Crawl 2 to the screen? 

It’s not like Alexandre Aja has been taking a break in the last few years – in fact, he’s currently out doing press for his latest horror film Never Let Go (2024), which stars Halle Berry. It was during the press junket for Never Let Go that ComicBook’s Chris Killian had the chance to ask Alexandre Aja about the status of Crawl 2, and we got a surprising answer on that front: From what Aja told us, it sounds like the time jump between making the first film and doing the sequel had nothing to do with Hollywood politics, a pandemic, or the strikes last year – and everything to do with Alexandre Aja needing time before he could face the water again: 

“The problem in the New York setting is how we’re going to explain [why] that many gators are here. And that’s what we’re working on,” Aja explained. “But it’s very exciting… I really enjoyed doing Crawl – it was a very hard movie to put together because of the water and the storm and everything. And somehow, enough time has passed that I completely forgot how terrible it was to be in the water all day long, so I’m ready to put my wetsuit back on.” 

If you look back at his old interviews from the original Crawl, Aja made it no secret that he didn’t have the best time in the water – and it seems like there’s a good reason why Crawl star Kaya Scodelario isn’t returning as Haley Keller. Hopefully, for Aja (as well as the cast and crew), the lessons learned from filming Crawl will make filming Crawl 2 a better experience. 

As for the story of Crawl 2, Aja hasn’t revealed much but has explained to fans why the sequel will be telling a new story:

“I think the story of Haley is a really strong one, but I believe that Crawl is about nature taking back its due, and kind of like… more hurricane-driven, man versus animal. So maybe it will be another story altogether… We’re looking for that human story right now, that will be as strong as the one in the first one. To make the second one legit,” Aja said.

Crawl 2 is currently in development.