Jason Statham's giant shark thriller Meg delayed until August 2018
The shark is still working – just a little slower than hoped for.
‘Meg,’ the upcoming thriller which will see action icon Jason Statham do battle with a gargantuan prehistoric shark, had originally been due to open in March 2018 – but now, Variety report that studio Warner Bros have pushed it back five months.
The film from director Jon Turteltaub (‘National Treasure’) will now open in the US on 10 August 2018 – no word yet on what that will mean for us here in the UK, where no release date has been confirmed at present.
No reason for the delay has been given; but let’s face it, a movie in which Statham does battle with a giant shark has summer blockbuster written all over it, so there’s little reason to view this release date change as cause for concern.
Based on the 1997 novel by Steve Alten, ‘Meg’ centres on a Megaladon, a 70-foot, 35-ton ancestor of the Great White Shark which, as you might have already guessed, was one of the deadliest predators ever to exist on the earth. Thought extinct for centuries, it turns out the species has survived in a deep-sea trench – until, of course, underwater explorers accidentally release into the open sea.
A movie adaptation has been in development for just about as long as the novel has been in print, but it finally gained traction in the last two years, initially with Eli Roth (‘Cabin Fever,’ ‘Hostel’) attached to direct. Author Alten has since published a series of ‘Meg’ novels, so it’s entirely feasible this film could kickstart a franchise.
49-year old British hard man Statham takes the lead as Jonas Taylor, a Navy diver turned marine biologist, whilst the supporting cast includes Li Bingbing, Ruby Rose and Rainn Wilson.
Unsurprisingly, ‘Meg’ will be released to 3D and IMAX as well as conventional screens.
In the meantime, we can look forward to seeing Statham back on screens in ‘Fast & Furious 8,’ out on 14 April.
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