Netflix Lands Greg Weidman and Geoff Tock Spec ‘Below’ With ‘Shazam!’s David F. Sandberg Directing

EXCLUSIVE: Following a competitive auction, sources tell Deadline that Netflix has landed the spec Below, which was written by Greg Weidman and Geoff Tock and will be directed by David F. Sandberg. Insiders say the package had half-dozen studios and streamers in the mix for it, with sources saying the spec sold in the low-seven-figures range.

The package also reunites Sandberg with James Wan, who discovered Sandberg and produced his feature film Lights Out and further helped in launching his career when Wan tapped him to direct The Conjuring spinoff Annabelle: Creation. Wan and Michael Clear will produce Below through their Atomic Monster banner along with Sandberg and Lotta Losten for Mangata as well as Roy Lee for Vertigo.

Plot details are being kept under wraps for the new project other then it being described as a genre thriller.

After the success of Annabelle: Creation, New Line was quick to turn to Sandberg for its big adaptation of the DC comic Shazam! The success of that film led to the studio to fast-track a sequel. Sandberg is currently in post-production on Shazam!: Fury of the Gods with Zachary Levi reprising the titular role and Helen Mirren and Rachel Zegler also joining the cast.

Weidman and Tock were most recently producers on Star Trek: Section 31 for CBS All Access. They previously collaborated with Netflix on the feature In the Shadow of the Moon, starring Boyd Holbrook and Cleopatra Coleman and directed by Jim Mickle, which was released last fall.

Sandberg is repped by CAA, Gotham Group and Jackoway Austen. Weidman and Tock are repped by CAA, Grandview and Myman Greenspan. Wan and Atomic Monster are repped by CAA, Stacey Testro International and Myman Greenspan. Vertigo is also repped by CAA.