Johannes Roberts directed the underwater thriller 47 Meters Down. The film starred Mandy Moore and Claire Holt as sisters trapped on the ocean floor, surrounded by sharks and running out of air. It is the first fiction drama film to be filmed almost entirely underwater. The film was just days away from a DVD release, with copies even out in some Target Corporation and Walmart stores, when it was bought from Dimension Films by Entertainment Studios, who pulled it from shelves and released it theatrically on 2000 screens. The film went on to earn over $62 million theatrically, off a budget of only $5 million, and become the most successful independent film of 2017. The film was succeeded by ', released in theatres on 16 August 2019. The franchise has now grossed over $100 million worldwide. Roberts directed his first feature film in 2000 at the age of 22. Self funded for £5,000 the film, Sanitarium, was released around the world. Over the next five years Roberts directed a series of low-budget horror films for DVD, including the cult release Forest of the Damned starring Tom Savini and the world's first series made for cell phones When Evil Calls. In 2010, Roberts wrote and directed the thriller F – a story of a group of teachers under attack by a group of pupils in a college after hours. Made for only £100k the film was picked up by Studio Canal and released theatrically in the UK to critical acclaim. Roberts then directed Stephen Rea in the television filmRoadkill for NBC before helming the science fiction thriller Storage 24 for Universal Pictures. Written by and starring Noel Clarke, the film was lauded for its innovative use of award-winning practical creature effects. Roberts wrote and directed the ghost storyThe Other Side of the Door, produced by Alexandre Aja. Filmed entirely in Mumbai and starring Sarah Wayne Callies, Jeremy Sisto, Sofia Rosinsky, and Javier Botet. It grossed over $14 million, becoming one of Fox International's most commercially successful releases. After 47 Meters Down Roberts directed the sequel to the horror filmThe Strangers, entitled ' and released in 2018, and starring Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, Bailee Madison and Lewis Pullman. The film entered the US box office at #3 behind Black Panther and A Wrinkle in Time, and finished with a total of over $32 million. In 2019, Roberts helmed another sequel, which became his third consecutive US top ten hit in three years – grossing $46 million and taking the 47 franchise to over $100 million. In December 2018, Roberts was hired to direct a reboot of the Resident Evil film franchise.
