THE MEG 2 BEGINS FILMING IN LONDON
London is the surprising home to The Meg 2, where it is set to start shooting at Warner Bros Leavesden Studios this week, which sees the return of a Megalodon shark and the original film’s star, Jason Statham.
The film, a sequel to The Meg (2018), is said to be taking over two huge water tanks at the film studios, which sound bigger than Verna Fields’ swimming pool that was used for the Ben Gardner head sequence in Jaws.
In fact, the tanks are the largest in Europe, which makes sense if you are making a film about the largest shark that ever swam in the ocean. Shooting is expected to last there until the end of May, according to KFTV.com.
Statham won’t have any trouble in the water tanks, as he was once competed for England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in the 10 metre, 3 metre and 1 metre diving competitions, making a splash in the water long before he did in film.
The Meg 2 director Ben Wheatley (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson)
The Leavesden studios – in Hertfordshire - were created from scratch for the filming of Pierce Brosnan’s debut as James Bond in GoldenEye (1995). Since then, it has seen everything from the Harry Potter series, Paddington, Mission: Impossible 7 and The Batman be filmed there.
It’s far less glamourous sounding than where The Meg was shot, which was filmed mostly on location in New Zealand.
As well as The Meg 2 filming in the UK, and having British actor Jason Statham as its lead, helming the giant shark action thriller is acclaimed British director Ben Wheatley.
Dean Newman, head of content for the UK based The Daily Jaws, the world’s number one Jaws fan site, said: “You could say that London is turning into something of a shark mecca, with it also currently being home to The Shark Is Broken, the hit West End show about the making of Jaws, starring Ian Shaw, the son of Quint actor Robert Shaw.
“And last year it was revealed that sharks were found to be living in the River Thames, the river that winds its way through the capital city.”
You can read more about sharks living in the Thames here: SHARKS IN THE THAMES — THE DAILY JAWS
The Meg 2 is not the only shark film to have seen filming in the UK recently, with 47 Meters Down: Uncaged filming some of its scenes in water tanks in studios in Basildon, Essex, which is just 40 minutes outside of London.
The Meg and Meg 2 star Jason Statham is no stranger to water as he used to dive for Great Britain - see video clip below.
Words by Dean Newman
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