Ben Wheatley is set to direct ‘The Meg 2’.
Ben Wheatley
The 48-year-old filmmaker and screenwriter has signed up to helm the upcoming sequel to the 2018 giant shark thriller, ‘The Meg’, which is currently in development at Warner Bros.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, many of the stars from the original movie will return for ‘The Meg 2’ including Jason Statham, who is said to be creatively involved.
Jon and Erich Hoeber wrote the most recent draft working off an initial draft by Dean Georgaris - all three of whom shared a credit on ‘The Meg’ - whilst Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Belle Avery are back as producers.
‘The Meg’ starred Jason Statham as a shark expert who fights tooth and nail against a giant prehistoric shark called a megalodon, and proved to be a worldwide hit when it made an impressive $530.3 million globally.
The original movie was directed by Jon Turteltaub, and was an adaptation of the novel by Steve Alten.
A Chinese co-production, the project also saw Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson and Ruby Rose round out the cast.
For new director Ben, the movie comes as his updated version of Gothic tale ‘Rebecca’ debuted this week.
The filmmaker recently said he wasn’t “haunted” by Alfred Hitchcock - who adapted the story for the big screen back in 1940 - whilst filming the project, as he was more focused on emulating Daphne du Maurier's novel.
He said: "It's not the Hitchcock film that haunts me. It's the du Maurier book. That's the shadow, that's the elephant in the room.
"You've been put in charge of bringing this book to the screen which is such a classic book and such a well-loved book. And that's where the tension is, because you're like, 'Oh my God, I don't want to screw this up.'"
Tagged in Jason Statham Ben Wheatley