It’s a mystery that it took so long to get perennial British hard manJason Stathamin a shark movie — andThe Megdelivered back in 2018, grossing over half a billion dollars worldwide. We’ve known a sequel to be in development for a little while now, with production rumors swirling throughout the last year.Ben Wheatley— yep, the director of dark artsy titles likeA Field in EnglandandKill List— has been confirmed to direct for a little while, indicating that production would happen in his native Britain, shifting from New Zealand. Now,Variety confirmsthat filming has begun on the megashark sequel, shooting at the Warner Bros.-owned Leavesden Studios just outside London, as previously reported.
And now, we have a title:Meg 2: The Trench. Assumedly that means we’re going to see some shark fighting in themarinetrenches, as opposed to a narrative transposed to the Western Front in the 1910s. Though thatwouldbe interesting.
Details on the film are sparse, but no doubt it will see the return of the titular prehistorical shark, angrier than ever. Wheatley takes control of the franchise fromJon Turteltaub, who directed the first installment in the franchise. Statham heads needn’t worry: he’s expected to reprise his role — it obviously wouldn’t beThe Megwithout Our Jason — as isBingbing Li, who played the oceanographer Suyin. Other returning bodies above-the-line include screenwritersDean Georgaris,Ric Hoeber, andJon Hoeber, who penned the first movie, along with producersLorenzo di BonaventuraandBelle Avery, and executive producerCatherine Xujun Ying.
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We spoke to Statham aboutThe Meg 2in May last year, while he appeared inGuy Ritchie’sWrath of Man, and he gave us something of a sitrep:
“Yeah, we’re gonna start shooting in January. Ben Wheatley is the director. I’m very excited to work with him. I’m thrilled to get going, you know. It’s been a while, we’ve been waiting around for the right script, and the right director to turn up, and we’ve got all those things. They’re all stacked up now. [Ben’s] great. We have a great shorthand already. We’ve got similar tastes, I like his movies, I think he’s a brilliant director. I think we’ve got a good shot of making something good.”
The Meg 2: The Trenchis yet to confirm a release date, but keep an eye on Collider for all news, trailers, and other information dropping about the movie.
