The Jason Statham shark thriller film, The Meg, pulled in more than half a billion at the global box office against an estimated $178 million budget back in 2018. Despite the mixed reviews from critics, Warner Bros. confirmed that a sequel was coming the same year that The Meg premiered. Fast forward to today, and it appears that The Meg sequel has officially started production with a title already confirmed.
According to Variety, shooting on the megashark sequel at Warner Bros.’ Leavesden Studios outside of London has officially started. The sequel, which will be titled Meg 2: The Trench, will presumably see Jason Statham dance with the titular shark once again. Meanwhile, after directing the first film, Jon Turteltaub is no longer coming back with High-Rise’s Ben Wheatley joining to direct a movie that could have a PG-18 rating.
Earlier reports about The Meg 2’s status claim that Statham was disappointed with the films’ PG-13 rating. Now that Statham will have more creative control of The Meg 2, fans can expect to see more gore, violence, and a darker theme, at the very least.
Unfortunately, other important details about The Meg 2 remain scarce, at the moment. But, we do know that Bingbing Li, who played Oceanographer Suyin, will also reprise her role opposite Statham’s Jonas Taylor. Meanwhile, The Meg’s screenwriters, Dean Georgaris, Erich Heober, and Jon Hoeber, are all coming back for the sequel alongside producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Belle Avery as well as Catherine Xujun Ying, who is the executive producer.
With a director like Wheatley, who specializes in thriller and horror films, at the helm, The Meg 2 could take a darker and much better turn than the first movie.
Unfortunately, if The Meg 2 has just started filming, don’t expect Warner Bros. to announce a possible premiere date let alone a trailer anytime soon. But, if it’s any consolation, fans can look forward to seeing Statham in action in action films, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre and The Expendables 4, later this year. Statham is also expected to come back for the last two Fast and Furious films as Deckard Shaw along with the Luke & Hobbs sequel with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
