Who would’ve thought Jason Statham going toe-to-fin against a giant prehistoric shark would lead to the most successful China-U.S. co-production ever? The Meg was a massive international hit with $527M worldwide, and those kinds of numbers usually mean one thing: sequels. Well, get ready to head back into the deep because it’s happening.
Deadline reports The Meg exec-producer Catherine Xujun Ying said when asked about a sequel, “It’s still in the very early stages, but we’re working on it. We’re trying to keep it secret at this time.”
Kinda tough to keep secret when you’re telling us it’s being worked on, though. And why keep it secret, anyway? Everybody expects The Meg to launch a franchise, so why play games?
The next step is getting Warner Bros.’ stamp of approval, which should be pretty easy. And from there, probably luring in Statham to go another round. Not that he’s been especially choosey about sequels, and he’s expressed interest previously in doing another one if the first was a hit. Well, it was.
The Meg was based on a book by Steve Alten, and he penned a sequel titled The Trench which hit shelves in 1999. So if there is a sequel the groundwork for a story is already in place. Here’s the book synopsis:
Four years after the incident at the Mariana Trench that unleashed a pregnant Megaladon, Jonas Taylor now houses her one surviving offspring at the Tanaka Institute. Deep in debt, Taylor has turned to an eccentric billionaire to help keep the institute afloat, but it doesn’t come without a price. Drawn into a web of deceit and lies, plagued by nightmares of his own death, Taylor must once again face frightening monsters of unimaginable power. Only this time, it’s not just the sharks he has to watch out for.
Hmmm…that sounds like a lot more than a monster movie. I’m not sure they’ll want to go in a direction that finds Statham facing human threats as much as aquatic beasts. Why fix what ain’t broke?
