killer shark flick saw Jason Statham as a deep-sea rescue diver who, along with a group of scientists, takes on a 75-ft.-long prehistoric shark, previously thought to be extinct. Also starring Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, and Ruby Rose, the film was a financial success, garnering $100 million worldwide in its first weekend. It went on to gross $530.3 million. Though not a hit with critics, the film was popular among horror and action fans, and shortly after the film's release, it was announced that a sequel was in the works.
In 2018, producer Catherine Xujun Ying confirmed that a Statham reportedly having a role in the creative process as well. Jon and Erich Hoeber, who co-wrote the first film with Dean Georgaris, wrote the most recent draft of the script, working off the original draft by Georgaris. Now the director promises the killer shark sequel will be filled with action.
In an interview with ComicBook, Wheatley discusses the sequel and how it will live up to the original film. Wheatley says he wants to movie to deliver to fans as well as honor the first movie and promises significant action for the sequel.
"It's an opportunity to do action on such an insanely large scale that it's just unbelievable. From doing Free Fire, which was, I thought, was all my Christmases came at once in of action, this is just unbelievable. And just doing the storyboards for it, just thinking and going, 'Oh,' it's just ... 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."
Wheatley is not new to the horror genre, as much of his work has been in horror and thriller. His previous films, such as Free Fire, High Rise, and the 2019 Netflix adaptation of Rebecca, contained plenty of action and thrill. While Wheatley remains tight-lipped on the sequel's plot, the first film was based on the first of a series of eight books about mega sharks, so there is plenty of content for the new movie.
The first film was a success because of its fun tone and special effects. While it lacked a lot of gore and horror to maintain its PG-13 rating, it will be exciting to see what Wheatley does with the sequel. It sounds like fans of the first movie will have a lot to look forward to with The Meg 2.
Source: ComicBook
