| The Meg | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jon Turteltaub |
| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | Meg bySteve Alten |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Tom Stern |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Harry Gregson-Williams |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 113 minutes[1] |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $130–178 million[2][3] |
| Box office | $529 million[2] |
The Meg is a 2018science fictionaction film directed byJon Turteltaub from a screenplay by Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber, and Erich Hoeber, loosely based on the 1997 novelMeg: A Novel of Deep Terror bySteve Alten. The film starsJason Statham,Li Bingbing,Rainn Wilson,Ruby Rose,Winston Chao, andCliff Curtis. In the plot, a group of scientists encounters a 75-foot-long (23 m)megalodon while on a rescue mission on thefloor of the Pacific Ocean.
Walt Disney Studios originally purchased thefilm rights to the novel in the 1990s, but the film spent years indevelopment hell. The rights eventually landed atWarner Bros. Pictures, and the film wasgreen-lit in 2013. Turteltaub and much of the cast joined by September 2014.Principal photography began in October 2016 and lasted until January 2017, occurring in New Zealand and China.
The Meg was released in the United States on August 10, 2018. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $529 million worldwide against a production budget of $130–178 million. A sequel,Meg 2: The Trench, was released in 2023, with Georgaris and the Hoebers returning as writers and Statham, Curtis, Sophia Cai andPage Kennedy reprising their roles.
Jonas Taylor is arescue diver who attempts to save the crew of a damagednuclear submarine as thehull is being rammed by an unidentified creature. He is forced to flee and leave two of his crewmembers trapped in the sub, as attempting rescue would result in the deaths of everyone they have already saved. His story is dismissed by fellow survivor Dr. Heller, who denounces his actions, believing that he was psychotic.
Five years later, billionaire Jack Morris meets Dr. Minway Zhang at the underwater research facility Mana One. Zhang and hisoceanographer daughter Suyin supervise a mission to explore a deeper section of theMariana Trench, previously concealed by athermocline ofhydrogen sulfide. The submersible is piloted by Japanese scientist Toshi, American scientist "The Wall," and Jonas' ex-wife Lori. They are attacked and trapped by a large creature.
Zhang and Jonas' old friend and Mana One operations manager, James "Mac" Mackreides, venture to Thailand to recruit Jonas, now a loner. Suyin attempts the rescue but is attacked by agiant squid that is subsequently killed by an enormous shark. Jonas goes down to save the crew; Toshi sacrifices himself to the shark to help the others escape.
The Mana One crew discovers that the giant shark is aMegalodon or "Meg", a prehistoric species of shark previously believed to be extinct. When they realize the meg pursued them past the thermocline, they resolve to kill it, knowing modern humans are unequipped to deal with such an ancient creature. After Jonas marks it with a tracker, Suyin enters a shark-proof tank to shoot the meg with poison, which successfully kills the creature.
In their moment of triumph, a second, larger meg (revealed to be the one they encountered in the trench) emerges, devouring The Wall and the dead Meg. It critically wounds Dr. Minway Zhang and Dr. Heller sacrifices himself to save a fellow crewmember as the shipcapsizes and sinks. Dr. Minway Zhang dies on the way to rescue.
Back at the station, Morris claims that he has informed all neighboring governments about the Meg, and has sent destroyers to torpedo the shark. However, he secretly enlists a mercenary team to kill the Meg withdepth charges. The team fails and Morris is eaten by the Meg. The Mana One crew learns that Morris lied and no one is coming to help them. They decide to kill the Meg themselves.
The meg attacks a crowded beach inSanya Bay in China, causing panic to the people, but the Mana One Crew use whale sounds to lure the meg away. Jonas manages to wound the Meg with his submersible and stabs it in the eye, crippling it; its blood attracts a shiver of different species of modern sharks that unite together and devour the dying Meg. Jonas reunites with the crew, and they celebrate their survival.
Disney'sHollywood Pictures initially acquired the rights to the novel in 1996.[4] Around that time,Tom Wheeler was hired to adapt the book into a screenplay, but, having decided that his script was not good enough, the studio hiredJeffrey Boam to write a new draft. Boam's script was later rejected for the same reason.[5] By 1999 the project had stalled, and the rights reverted toSteve Alten, the book's author.[4]
In 2005, reports surfaced that the project was being developed byNew Line Cinema, with an estimated budget of $75 million and a slated release of summer 2006.[6] Names attached to the production includedJan de Bont as director,Guillermo del Toro as producer, andShane Salerno as a screenwriter. However, New Line later canceled the project due to budgetary concerns.[6] The rights reverted to Alten again, but the film remained indevelopment hell.
In 2015, it was announced that the film was now moving forward atWarner Bros., with a new script written by Dean Georgaris.[7] By June of that year,Eli Roth was reported to be in talks to direct,[8] but due to creative differences, Roth was replaced byJon Turteltaub in early 2016.[9]Jason Statham and much of the cast joined in August and September 2016.[10]
The film is an American and Chinese co-production.[11] It was considered a full co-production under Chinese regulations, and it was not subject to the same quota system and revenue sharing agreements usually applied to imported films.[12]
Principal photography on the film began on October 13, 2016, inWest Auckland, New Zealand.[13][14] Filming ended on January 4, 2017, inSanya City ofHainan, China.[15] Visual effects were done bySony Pictures Imageworks,Image Engine, andScanline VFX. The visual effects team was challenged with designing a previously undiscovered prehistoric giant shark and designing the underwater environments and atmospherics, including realistic coral reefs, bubbles, and other sea life.[16][17] The film was converted to 3D in post-production byLegend3D.Harry Gregson-Williams's score was recorded atSynchron Stage inVienna,Austria.[18]
Released by Gravity Pictures in China andWarner Bros. Pictures in the United States, the film was initially scheduled to be released on March 2, 2018.[19] Warner and Gravity then said that the film would be released during the 2018 Chinese New Year period in China, a week-long annual holiday on February 16, 2018. The film was later pushed back from its original release date of March 2, 2018, to August 10, 2018.[20] The studio spent $140 million on global prints and advertisements for the film.[3]
The Meg was released fordigital download on October 30, 2018, and onUltra HD Blu-ray,Blu-ray 3D,Blu-ray, andDVD on November 13.[21] As of August 2020, it is available to stream onAmazon Prime in the United Kingdom as well asHulu in the United States as of May 2023.[22] It is also available on Amazon Prime in the United States.
The Meg grossed $145 million in the United States and Canada and $384 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $529 million, against a production budget between $130–178 million.[2]Deadline Hollywood reported the film needed to gross around $400 million in order tobreak even.[3]
In the United States and Canada, it was initially projected to gross $20–22 million from 4,119 theaters in its opening weekend.[23] The film made $4 million from Thursday night previews, leading analysts to predict it would outperform its low $20 million projections. After making $16.5 million on its first day, weekend estimates were raised to $40 million.[3] It went on to debut at $45.4 million, topping the box office and marking the best solo opening of Statham's career, as well as Turteltaub's.[24] It made $21.5 million in its second weekend and $13 million in its third, finishing second behindCrazy Rich Asians both times.[25][26]
The film debuted to $101.5 million from 96 countries in other territories, for a worldwide opening of $146.9 million. In China, a co-producer of the film grossed $50.3 million from 12,650 screens and ranked 3 in the opening weekend. Other top openings were Mexico ($6.2 million), Russia ($5 million), the United Kingdom ($4.4 million), Spain ($2.4 million), and the Philippines ($2 million).[27]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 47% based on 313 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "The Meg sets audiences up for a good old-fashioned B-movie creature feature, but lacks the genre thrills—or the cheesy bite—to make it worth diving in."[28] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[29] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled byPostTrak gave it an average 3 out of 5 stars.[3]
Owen Gleiberman ofVariety gave the film a mixed review, calling it "neither good enough—nor bad enough," and writing, "The Meg, a rote sci-fi horror adventure film that features a shark the size of a blue whale, comes on like it wants to be the mother of all deep-sea attack movies. But it's really just the mother of all generically pandering, totally unsurprisingJaws ripoffs."[30]
Scott Mendelson ofForbes was impressed by the film's special effects and called it "a polished B movie that delivers the goods."[31] At the same time,IGN's William Bibbiani praised the performances of the cast, particularly Statham.[32]
Writing forThe Hollywood Reporter, Simon Abrams said the film was "refreshingly unpretentious" and "a breath of fresh air" compared with theSharknado series.[33]
The Meg won Golden Fleece at the 2018Golden Trailer Awards,[34][35] and received nominations for Best Home Ent Horror/Thriller and Best Billboard the following year.[36][37] It was nominated for aGolden Raspberry Award inWorst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off, or Sequel (as a ripoff ofJaws).[38]
In April 2018,Jason Statham said aMeg sequel would happen if the film did well with the public saying, "I think it's like anything in this day and age—if it makes money, there's an appetite to make more money. And if it doesn't do well, they'll soon sweep it under the carpet. But that's the way Hollywood works."[39] That August, Steve Alten said, "My feeling has always been that this is a billion-dollar franchise if it was done right. But to be done right, you had to get the shark right, get the cast right, get the tone right. And Warner Bros. has nailed it completely. The producers have nailed it."[40]
In October 2018, executive producer Catherine Xujun Ying said a sequel was in the early stages of development.[41] In March 2019, a script for the film was in the works.[42] In his September 2020 newsletter, Steve Alten confirmed the script, titledMeg 2: The Trench, was complete, and expressed interest in its "dark" tone.[43] British directorBen Wheatley signed on to direct.[44] In April 2021, Statham said that he believed that filming would begin in January 2022.[45] Production officially began atWarner Bros. Studios in Leavesden in February 2022, with screenwriters Dean Georgaris, Erich Hoeber, and Jon Hoeber returning, and Statham and Li reprising their roles from the first film.[46] In March 2022, it was announced that the film would be released on August 4, 2023.[47]
The Meg bySteve Alten | |
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