Zach Cregger has an idea for turning his wife Sara Paxton’s 2006 teen fantasy Aquamarine into a horror movie: bring her back as “a really deadly mermaid.”
The subject came up during a 2026 podcast interview promoting Resident Evil, when Cregger was asked about the small online movement calling for him to reimagine Aquamarine as horror. He said he and Paxton had never actually discussed it, but when pressed on whether he’d do it, he answered, “I’m not opposed to that.”
Paxton played the title character in Aquamarine alongside Emma Roberts and JoJo Levesque. She and Cregger met while making the 2013 indie Love & Air Sex and married in October 2019. Paxton is no stranger to the genre herself, with horror credits that include The Last House on the Left remake and The Innkeepers, making the idea of her as a monstrous mermaid less of a stretch than it might sound.
The fan pitch has gained traction during Aquamarine’s 20th anniversary year, as Cregger follows Barbarian and Weapons with Resident Evil. Disney+ has separately ordered a pilot for a family-friendly Aquamarine continuation series, with Roberts and Jake McDorman set to return. For now, though, Cregger’s deadly-mermaid version remains just an idea rather than an announced project.
