Meg 2 Adds Director Ben Wheatley to its Kill List
Director Ben Wheatley's latest offering, a sumptuous retelling of Rebecca (2020) may have just dropped on Netflix, but he's sticking with girls names when it comes to his next feature, as he has been announced as helming The Meg 2.
Wheatley directed his first feature in eight days, Down Terrace (2009), and has built a reputation as being able to handle thrillers, horror, action and comedy elements - even directing one feature in black and white, A Field In England (2013).
So, in many ways the acclaimed director of Kill List (2011), Sightseers (2012), High-Rise (2015) and Free Fire (2016) has all the perfect attributes to bring a fresh take on the return of the Megaladon.
This fish, swallow this other fish whole!
Many were left wanting after the first adaptation of Steve Alten's book in 2018, but the giant fish movie took a healthy bite of the global box office. So, Ben sounds an inspired choice to deliver the sequel, which will yet again star Jason Statham.
Of course, some folks are are saying that Wheatley is "infinitely better than this" or if it is April 1st. Hang fire people, and let's just see what we end up with because, director wise, this is the most interesting person to be calling the shots on a shark film, perhaps since Steven Spielberg stepped behind the camera on Jaws. Certainly since Renny Harlin with Deep Blue Sea (1999). He's an interesting, exciting choice, period.
And no one is saying The Meg 2 is going to be Jaws, so you can step away from your keyboards. Hell, no one said The Meg was even trying to be Jaws, it owed more to Godzilla and King Kong if anything. And besides, you can like both (other shark films are available).
INTERVIEW: MEG CREATOR STEVE ALTEN
Wheatley, originally from Billericay in Essex but now calls Brighton his home, told the British Film Institute in a previous interview that he loved the films Evil Dead II (1987) and Aliens (1986) and were two of his favourite films, so he knows a good sequel when he sees it.
Wheatley is also slated for Tomb Raider 2, although at this stage we don't know which sequel will come first, especially with COVID.
If any of that isn’t exciting enough, it could also mean the prospect of one of his regular collaborators, Michael Smiley, turning up in The Meg 2. A case of Smiley, you son of a bitch?
