Blake Lively is in talks to star in Sony Pictures upcoming shark thriller In the Deep from director Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan, House of Wax) and screenwriter Tony Jaswinski. Described to be in the vein of 127 Hours and Gravity, the woman vs. shark project would serve as a showcase for its star.

In the Deep tells the story of a young woman coping with the death of her mother by catching some awesome waves. Some gnarly shit goes down and she ends up 20 yards away from shore clinging to a buoy and marked for lunch by a large great white shark.

Lively is coming off the romantic sci-fi drama The Age of Adaline and played Carol Ferris/Star Sapphire in Warner Bros. superhero misstep Green Lantern. She made her horror debut in 2006’s Simon Says before landing her breakthrough role as “it” girl Serena Van der Woodsen on The CW’s “Gossip Girl.”

Reese Witherspoon is set to star in Cold, a supernatural frightener from Deja Vu scribe Bill Marsilii for Lionsgate. Described as a dark thriller with supernatural elements, not much has been revealed about the project.

Witherspoon is best known for her romantic comedies and acclaimed dramatic work, including Legally Blonde, Sweet Home Alabama, Cruel Intentions, Election, Wild, and her Oscar winning turn in Walk the Line. But, she has dabbled in some very notable horror.

Witherspoon played Patrick Bateman’s fiancée Evelyn Williams in Mary Harron’s adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho in 2000 and Mark Wahlberg’s obsession in the 1996 teen stalker thriller Fear. But it’s her brilliant psycho-bitch performance in 1996’s Freeway that endeared her to genre fans.