The shark fight returns
MEG 2: THE TRENCH I Ben Wheatley takes the plunge with his first Hollywood blockbuster…
In 2018 sharksploitation epic The Meg, Jason Statham’s disgraced rescue diver Jonas Taylor landed redemption by besting a mythical 75-foot long megalodon. The film bit off $530m at the worldwide box office and a sequel was summarily announced in October 2018. And then… silence, the project seemingly dead in the water.
Until, that is, October 2020, when it was announced that Brit director Ben Wheatley will be directing Meg 2: The Trench, his first blockbuster engagement after a string of indies with sharp, serrated edges, such as Kill List, Sightseers and High-Rise. Wheatley’s biggest production to date is his 2020 Netflix adaptation of Rebecca, but that’s small fry compared to this monster catch.
“It’s different in terms of the scale,” nods Wheatley when Teasers chats to him on Zoom. “You’re just concentrating really hard on thinking as big as possible. You can’t hold anything back. I have a voice in my head, which is an independent filmmaking voice, which goes, ‘Ooh, there are a lot of extras in this…’ But you can’t be timid. The storyboarding has been fantastic.”
Attached to Tomb Raider 2 before the pandemic, Wheatley seems a much better fit for a sequel to The Meg, which was fun and spectacular but had one foot – or rather, fin – in the horror genre. “The thrill side of it is super-important,” he nods. “But it’s summer thrills, rather than gory thrills. Things can still be edge-of-your-seat without them having to be what happens in
In The Earth [his harrowing new horror movie, see page 64]. That’s what we’ve been concentrating on – the handling of tension, of action, and looking at a lot of… well, basically Spielberg.”
He laughs. “My appreciation for his work goes up and up as I get older. And certainly Jaws – he was a kid when he did that. It’s just unbelievable.” Wheatley has chatted with returning star Jason Statham and says the real prep begins in July. And while the story and other cast members are currently under wraps – all we can be sure of is that the megalodon destroyed at the end of the first movie isn’t the only one – Wheatley does stress another reason why he feels Meg 2 is a good fit for him.
“There’s something very blue-collar about all of it, the nuts and bolts, and they’re not superheroes,” he says. “Even though they do quite outlandish stuff, there’s a vulnerability to them, which is exciting. There’s something about the superhero genre where, much as I enjoy it, as it gets bigger and bigger and bigger, there’s problems with the way they’re just invulnerable. That lessens the tension. I like human risk. That side of it is interesting to me.” JG
ETA | 2023 / MEG 2: THE TRENCH IS CURRENTLY IN PRE-PRODUCTION.