The movie is based on the novel "Dead Calm" by Charles Williams, of which Orson Welles had started filming an adaptation starring himself, Jeanne Moreau and Laurence Harvey titled "The Deep" in the late 1960s but never completed. Producer Tony Bill had tried to buy the rights from Welles but was never successful. He mentioned this to Phil Noyce, giving him a copy of the book in 1984. Noyce enjoyed the book and showed it to George Miller and Terry Hayes, who were enthusiastic. Miller managed to persuade Oja Kodar, Welles' companion who controlled the rights to the novel, to sell the book to Kennedy Miller.