Zach Cregger’s Next Movie Sounds Like ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ Crashed Into ‘Aliens’

Zach Cregger has spent the past few years building a reputation as one of horror’s most exciting new voices, delivering acclaimed genre work with ‘Barbarian’ and ‘Weapons.’ His next project is set to test just how far that reputation can stretch beyond the genre that made his name.

‘The Flood’ marks Cregger’s first major departure into science fiction, and the early details suggest it won’t feel like a typical horror director simply relocating to outer space. The sci-fi thriller follows a crew on a remote space station who discover an alien object capable of distorting time, reality, and the human mind.

Cregger himself has been careful to draw a clear line between this project and his previous work, insisting the film isn’t really a horror movie despite carrying an unsettling tone throughout. Speaking to Men’s Health, he described ‘The Flood’ as “disturbing, but it’s not a horror movie, although there are horror scenes in it,” while pointing directly to Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ as a major creative touchstone for the project.

The origins of ‘The Flood’ trace back to an unusually compressed creative process. Cregger reportedly had just 5 days to come up with an idea while working alongside producer Steven Spielberg, describing entering a focused mental state where he essentially visualized the entire film in one intense stretch.

Part of the inspiration also came from a more personal source. Cregger has credited his wife, actress Sara Paxton, with sparking the concept after watching a film featuring an abandoned spaceship together, with Paxton suggesting there’s nothing scarier than being trapped in space. That idea eventually evolved into the story of a female captain and her crew stumbling onto a mysterious signal from a distant world.

Cregger has been explicit about how much ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ shaped his approach to the material, describing Kubrick’s film as “a really thrilling horror movie about human nature.” That framing gives some insight into how ‘The Flood’ plans to use its sci-fi setting to explore bigger philosophical questions rather than relying purely on scares.

The film’s structure reportedly plays with time in unconventional ways, featuring jumps and loops that reveal events unfolded differently than they first appeared. That narrative ambition, paired with visuals evoking Kubrick’s slow-burn cosmic dread, explains why comparisons to both ‘2001’ and ‘Aliens’ have followed the project since details began circulating.

‘The Flood’ has had an unusually winding road toward release. The project was originally set up before Cregger’s ‘Resident Evil’ reboot, and Netflix initially held the distribution rights before ultimately declining to guarantee it a theatrical release.

That decision opened the door for Warner Bros. to step in, with the film now set up through Amblin Pictures, Warner Bros., and New Line Cinema. ‘The Flood’ currently has a theatrical release date of August 11, 2028, giving Cregger plenty of time to bring his ambitious vision to life.

The involvement of Amblin also adds an interesting wrinkle, given Spielberg’s own history with genre-blending sci-fi that balances wonder with dread. Having a producer of his caliber attached only raises expectations further for a project already being compared to two of the most influential science fiction films ever made.

Cregger has also teased at least one particularly intense sequence inspired by Gaspar Noé’s ‘Irréversible,’ though he’s acknowledged it might ultimately prove “a bridge too far” and could be reworked before the film is finished. That willingness to push boundaries, tempered by his own second-guessing, suggests ‘The Flood’ is still very much evolving as Cregger refines exactly how disturbing he wants the final product to be.

No official cast has been confirmed yet, though Cregger has frequently worked with Sara Paxton, Austin Abrams, and Justin Long across his recent projects. Given how personal the film’s origins are, it wouldn’t be surprising to see familiar collaborators turn up once casting news eventually arrives.

The film’s central mystery, an alien signal from a distant world that ultimately warps perception itself, gives Cregger plenty of room to experiment visually as well as narratively. Combined with a plot that loops back on itself and reveals earlier events in a different light, ‘The Flood’ sounds like it’s aiming for something far more cerebral than a straightforward space creature feature.

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