His second novel, "The Deep", published in 1976, emerged after Benchley's chance meeting in Bermuda with diver Teddy Tucker while writing a story for "National Geographic". Benchley visited the wreck of the "Constellation" which he described as having sunk on top of two other wrecks the "Montana" and the "Lartington". This gave Benchley the idea of a honeymooning couple discovering two sunken treasures on the Bermuda reefs — 17th century Spanish gold and a fortune in World War II-era morphine — and who are subsequently targeted by a drug syndicate. Benchley co-wrote the screenplay for the 1977 film release, along with Tracy Keenan Wynn and an uncredited Tom Mankiewicz. Directed by Peter Yates and starring Robert Shaw, Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset, "The Deep" was a box office success, and one of the top 10 highest-grossing films in the US in 1977, though its box office tally fell well short of "Jaws". However, the film inspired a number of technical firsts and was a Best Sound nominee at the 1978 Oscars.