If I am being honest, there’s not a movie I am more hotly anticipating seeing on a big screen this year than The Meg 2: The Trench. Yes, I’m excited about Barbie and the new footage that premiered this week. Of course, I want to know how Denis Villeneuve brings Dune 2 to life, particularly after seeing new footage at CinemaCon 2023. However, I unabashedly love The Meg. I love how ridiculous the plot is, and the tone Jason Statham and the rest of the cast take while the monster itself wreaks havoc. I’ve been anticipating The Trench since it was first hinted at back in 2018.
Now, CinemaBlend has seen new footage for The Meg 2: The Trench and it features Jason Statham taking on a newer, larger The Meg on a jet ski … with a harpoon. Honestly, how could you not be a little bit excited for this movie? If you don't want to be spoiled about new footage that hasn't dropped online yet, now may be a good time to skedaddle.
Let’s rewind a little bit. This week in Las Vegas, Warner Bros. gave us our first look at The Meg 2 as part of the studio's big CinemaCon presentation. The clip kicked off like 54 million years ago with some cute dinosaurs on a beach. Of course, a terrifying T-Rex-looking sonofab*tch shows up to eat the cute dinosaurs, but is he the apex predator? No, of course not. The Meg is the apex predator. The shark eats the T-Rex. All is well with the world.
Cut to the present day and Statham’s character Jonas has reassembled his team to head down into a deep trench to do some research on a recent disturbance in an area that men have not tread before. Of course, this time a bigger, bolder Meg comes up out of the trench to wreak havoc on humanity. I’d go on about some of the footage we saw including some over-the-top Meg kills and more, but honestly I don’t really want to ruin all the surprise. The main thing you need to know is Jason Statham. Harpoon. Jet ski.
Some people from the original flick are back, including Statham but also Cliff Curtis, Page Kennedy and Shuya Sophia Cai. Ben Wheatley is directing the new flick, taking over for Jon Turteltaub, who helmed the first one. Sergio Peris-Mencheta is on board as one of The Meg 2’s villains as well.
The sequel looks as if it will have a similar tone to the first film. Wheatley has also previously expressed excitement over the scale of the shark-based film. (He’s previously directed stuff like Free Fire and Doctor Who.)
Look, I know The Meg is the rare populist movie where the critics and audience ratings are similar, and both are splats. The first flick earned 46% from the critics and 42% from the audience on Rotten Tomatoes, yikes. Meanwhile, however, the movie made $145 million domestically and nearly $385 million globally, so people saw it. We’ll have to wait and see if the second movie in the franchise can generate half a billion dollars at the box office too.
Naturally, I understand this franchise may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re ever sitting alone in your house and wondering who the audience is for projects like this, it’s me. I am the audience. Ya girl will be at The Meg 2 on opening night, guaranteed.
I don’t need Tom Cruise movies set in space. I really just need Jason Statham and a harpoon. The Meg 2: The Trench is coming on August 4, 2023. Keep your jaws wide open for more on this 2023 movie release in the coming months.
