Renny Harlin’s (Deep Blue Sea, Die Hard 2) Black Tides will star John Travolta.

John Travolta will play Bill Pierce, “an estranged father whose attempt to reconnect with his daughter and grandson turns into a harrowing battle for survival when their boat is attacked by rogue orcas off the southern coast of Spain.”

The survival thriller is inspired by real-life orca attacks that have occurred off the coast of southern Spain and Portugal, written by Chris Sparling (Buried) and Ángel Agudo (Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End). Adrián Guerra and Nuria Valls’s Nostromo Pictures (Buried) produces.

“John Travolta brings the perfect combination of grit, depth, vulnerability and charisma to the character of Bill Pierce, the estranged father, that achingly captures the tragedies of family dynamics,” said Harlin. “I can’t wait to show fans of big screen cinema how his movie star presence and physicality will add gravity to the epic action sequences and deeply emotional personal drama. As a director, I consider myself fortunate to join a list of acclaimed filmmakers who’ve had the privilege of getting to know John as an artist and a person.”

“You build a film like this around very few people. John’s one of them. He brings the history, the craft, and the instinct that lets a character land in a way that lasts,“ added producer Adrián Guerra.

Deadline first reported on Travolta’s casting.