Cameras have started rolling on The Meg 2. Per Variety, the killer shark sequel is officially started shooting in the U.K. at Warner Bros.' Leavesden Studios just outside of London. This follows a recent report that the anticipated sequel was about to get production underway. Jason Statham is expected to reprise his role as U.S. Navy diver Jonas with Li Bingbing also expected to return as oceanographer Suyin.
Jon Turteltaub isn't back in the director's chair for the sequel, dubbed The Meg 2: The Trench, as Ben Wheatley (Rebecca) has taken the directing reins. Screenwriters Dean Georgaris, Erich Hoeber, and Jon Hoeber have also returned to pen the new screenplay. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Belle Avery are back to produce as is executive producer Catherine Xujun Ying.
“A lot of it is respecting The Meg, and trying to make sure it’s a great Meg film," Wheatley said of his approach to the sequel, per ComicBook.com. "As you can see from the movies I’ve made, they’re not necessarily, it’s not … when you go and do Doctor Who, I don’t completely change it because I wanted to do it. I didn’t want to necessarily make it something completely different that nobody recognized, you know? So there’s that element of back and forth.”
He added, "It’s an opportunity to do action on such an insanely large scale, that it’s just unbelievable... I feel a heavy responsibility for it, to make sure that it kind of delivers on all the, to all the big shark fans out there.”
Released in 2018, The Meg stars Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Roe, Winston Chao, and Cliff Curtis. Based on the 1997 book Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten, the film follows a group of scientists who encounter a 75-foot-long megalodon shark deep in the Pacific Ocean. The movie was a huge hit in theaters with more than $530 million grossed, and while the reviews were a bit mixed, many fans found the film fun enough to clamor for a sequel.
Jason Statham Will Also Appear In Another Anticipated Sequel
More sequels are in the works for Jason Statham fans. The actor is also set to take the lead in The Expendables 4 with Sylvester Stallone taking more of a backseat with Staham's Lee Christmas in the central role. That movie is in part a spinoff more so than a sequel as it primarily follow Statham's character more than the others and has often been referred to by Stallone as "Christmas Story." The future of the series past part four is unclear but it's possible Statham could continue to make movies as Christmas.
Statham is also expected to return as Deckard Shaw in the final two installments of the Fast and Furious franchise. Vin Diesel has been assembling all of the franchise's biggest stars to come back for the two-part finale for the movie series, and while The Rock is adamant that he won't come back, we'll likely see his Hobbs & Shaw co-star return in the last two Fast films at some point.
The Meg 2: The Trench doesn't have an official release date set at this time but the sequel is expected to swim its way into movie theaters sometime in 2023.