The Megsnagged $45 million opening weekend at the domestic box office back in 2018 and ultimately went on to secure $530 million worldwide on a reported $130 million production budget. A sequel quickly became a no-brainer. But while there’s been sequel rumblings for a few years, plans to actually film the movie are only first coming into focus now. (Which likely has something to do with the significant amount of release and production delays during the pandemic.)
Late last year, Warner Bros. started to show signs of moving forward withThe Meg 2by bringing aboardBen Wheatleyto direct the film. On top of that,during a recent conversationCollider’s ownSteve Weintraubhad withJason Statham, Stathamconfirmed that filming is expected to being in January 2022.
But what about the rest of the cast? While Statham was undoubtedly the headliner playing Jonas Taylor, a rescue diver recruited to help a team of scientists take on megalodon, one of the movie’s strongest assets was the charm of its ensemble of heroes. That group includedLi Bingbingas daredevil oceanographer Suyin,Ruby Roseas tech expert Jaxx, andJessica McNameeas Lori, a sub pilot who also happens to be Jonas’ ex.
With McNamee celebrating the release ofMortal Kombat, she recently joined us for an episode ofCollider Ladies Nightand give us an update on what she knows about the status ofThe Meg 2. She began by highlighting the differences between the first book and the first movie, something that could also be the case with this sequel film:
“They do deviate from the books quite a lot. I don’t even know where they’re gonna go with the second one. They are talking a sequel, but like I said, the first one deviates so much from the books so they could go in a whole different direction. We’re not really sure.”
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McNamee expressed some uncertainty about the filming schedule, too; “There was all this buzz about it and then COVID and thenMortal Kombat, so I’m not even across that.” However, she did tease a potential filming location for the movie:
“I don’t even know! I’m not across it. I should be. I’m a terrible person. I mean, that would be the dream. I would love to be involved. I had such a blast filming that movie. Jason’s great and the whole process was so fun. We got to shoot in New Zealand. I also heard they’re potentially shooting it in Australia, which would be amazing. It’s the only way I could get back into the damn country at this point!”
Does the fact that Statham knows the filming date and McNamee doesn’t signal that the sequel story might involve a new ensemble? Sure, it’s possible, but after the successfulMortal Kombatopening, one might hope that Warner Bros. is firmly in the McNamee business. And again, that particular ensemble was a high appeal component of film one. It does seem like there’s great value in keeping the team together.
While we wait for more updates onThe Meg 2, be sure to catch McNamee playing Sonya Blade in the newMortal Kombatmovie and watch her full episode of Collider Ladies Night at the top of this article!
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