Beauty beats the beast as 'Barbie' trounces 'Meg 2' at box office

Meg 2: The Trench may have been back for seconds, but the sequel to the 2018 shark-smash had to settle for just that, seconds, against Barbie, still riding high at the US box office over the weekend.

In its third week the Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling film took $53 million – and passed the $1 billion global takings milestone after 17 days - whilst the returning giant Megalodon shark and Jason Statham only bit through $30 in box office takings, the original took a hefty $45 million when it opened wide five years ago.

But that would mean box office takings to the tune of $53 million

The giant shark sequel directed by Ben Wheatley may - to paraphrase Chief Brody from JAWS - need a bigger boost, but just as it did last time it will be looking to the international market for extra summer dollars. In particular the Chinese market, where it is co-produced, plus having China's highest grossing action star, Jing Wu, won't do it any harm in that territory.

Having said that, according to Variety, the shark film based on the books by Steve Alten, has already taken a none too shabby $112 million internationally to add to that pot. Perhaps a Meg 3 could yet be in the offing, with only time telling if subsequent weeks drop off deeper than the Mariana Trench.

Speaking to Variety, David A.Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, felt that the film series may fin-ish with this second instalment, saying: “The drop from the first film’s start shows the series is wearing thin.”

Let’s not forget though that 45 years ago JAWS 2 took less than the original JAWS from 1975. Which did nothing to stop further outings in JAWS 3D (1983) and JAWS the Revenge (1987).

With Meg 2 making waves and Barbie continuing to reign supreme, it's clear that the realm of cinematic possibilities is as vast and unpredictable as the depths of the ocean itself.

Words by Dean Newman

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