Paramount is sending the alligators north. A sequel to the 2019 survival thriller Crawl is heading into production later this month in Hungary, with Mason Gooding and Emily Rudd set to star and original director Alexandre Aja returning to the helm, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The first Crawl cost under $14 million and grossed $91.5 million worldwide — a return that made a follow-up an easy calculation for the studio. It starred Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper as a daughter and father trapped in a flooding Florida home, hunted by alligators during a Category 5 hurricane. The sequel shifts the action to New York City, where a hurricane unleashes gators into the streets and sewers. Sam Raimi, who produced the original, returns alongside Aja and Craig Flores as producers. Gregory Levasseur and Azizi executive produce.

The script went through several hands. Jason Harry Pagan and Andrew Deutschman worked on it, as did Aja and Levasseur, his long-time writing partner. The project has been in development since at least 2024.

Gooding broke out in Olivia Wilde's Booksmart and became a fan favourite in the Scream franchise, playing Chad Meeks-Martin across the last three entries. He currently appears in the Netflix comedy Hours opposite Kevin Hart and in Gregg Araki's I Want Your Sex.

Rudd is the female lead in Netflix's live-action One Piece adaptation, playing Nami. She also appeared in Amazon's Hunters as Logan Lerman's love interest and in Netflix's Fear Street franchise. Next up for her is Whalefall, directed by Brian Duffield for 20th Century Studios and set for release in October, opposite Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin.

For a film that cost less than $14 million, the original Crawl punched well above its weight — a mid-budget genre picture that turned a tidy profit and built enough audience recognition to justify a sequel seven years on. Moving the setting from a single flooded house in Florida to an entire city's infrastructure suggests Paramount is willing to spend a little more this time, though no budget figure has been disclosed.

No release date has been announced. Production in Hungary — a common stand-in for American locations, favoured for its studio infrastructure and tax incentives — begins later this month.