More details have emerged about the Jason Statham-driven shark thriller, “The Meg,” which will hit theaters in the summer of 2018.
Statham will play the lead role of Jonas Taylor, who discovers a 70-foot long megalodon shark that was thought to be extinct while exploring the Mariana Trench. The Transporter actor has called the suspense-thriller film “a cross between Jaws and Jurassic Park”
According to an official film synopsis released this week:
“A deep-sea submersible – part of an international undersea observation program – has been attacked by a massive creature, previously thought to be extinct, and now lies disabled at the bottom of the deepest trench in the Pacific…with its crew trapped inside. With time running out, expert deep sea rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Statham) is recruited by a visionary Chinese oceanographer (Winston Chao), against the wishes of his daughter Suyin (Li Bingbing), to save the crew—and the ocean itself—from this unstoppable threat: a pre-historic 75-foot-long shark known as the Megalodon. What no one could have imagined is that, years before, Taylor had encountered this same terrifying creature. Now, teamed with Suyin, he must confront his fears and risk his own life to save everyone trapped below…bringing him face to face once more with the greatest and largest predator of all time.”
The big-budget blockbuster from Warner Brothers Films, which is being directed by Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure), is based on the 1997 novel of the same name by author Steve Alten.
“It will be edge-of-your-seat scary,” Alten said in an interview with iHorror. “First and foremost, this is not just a shark, it’s a Megalodon, the most fearsome predator in the history of the planet.”
The shark-themed thriller had already been pushed back from its original theatrical release date of March 2, 2018 to Aug. 10. Primary filming wrapped up in New Zealand in January.
The movie will also star Jessica McNamee, Ruby Rose, Cliff Curtis and Rainn Wilson.