2023 film by Ben Wheatley
Meg 2: The Trench (titled Shark 2 in some territories[2]) is a 2023 science fiction action film directed by Ben Wheatley from a screenplay by Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, and Dean Georgaris, based on the 1999 novel The Trench by Steve Alten. It serves as the sequel to The Meg (2018). The film stars Jason Statham, Wu Jing, Sophia Cai, Page Kennedy, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Skyler Samuels and Cliff Curtis. Like the previous film, it follows a group of scientists who must outrun and outswim the titular megalodons when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival.
Plans for the sequel were announced to be in early development in October 2018 after the box office success of the first film. Wheatley replaced Jon Turteltaub as director, with the script being written by returning writers Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber. Principal photography began in February 2022 and lasted until May, occurring in various locations in Asia and Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, in Watford, Hertfordshire, England.
Meg 2: The Trench had its premiere at the Shanghai International Film Festival on June 9, 2023, and was released in the United States on August 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film received mixed reviews and was a box office success, grossing over $397 million worldwide.
Plot
Eight years after the events of the first film, Jonas Taylor has been involved in fighting environmental crimes while also helping Mana One in exploring a further deep part of the Mariana Trench where the Megalodon had been found. Following the death of Suyin Zhang, Jonas has been raising her teenage daughter Meiying alongside her uncle and Suyin's brother Jiuming Zhang, who has acquired his father's company alongside wealthy financier Hillary Driscoll. Mana One has also been studying an 80 ft (24 m) female Meg called Haiqi, who was discovered as a pup and trained by Jiuming in a reserve in Hainan. Recently, Haiqi has been acting erratically, leading to Jonas being concerned despite Jiuming's enthusiasm.
Jonas and Jiuming lead a routine submersible exploration to the Trench, with Meiying stowing away to see the trench for the first time. Fellow Meg survivors DJ and Mac observe the group from the Mana One. On their way down, the subs are pursued by Haiqi, who escaped captivity the previous night; the subs dive down through the thermocline to escape, but Haiqi forces her way through it anyway. Two much larger Megs, a massive alpha male and a slightly smaller beta male, appear and mate with Haiqi. While working on an escape plan, Jonas and his team discover an illegal mining operation in a station captained by the mercenary Montes, who has a vendetta against Jonas for his imprisonment some time before. Montes' crew was hired by the secretly corrupt Driscoll to covertly use the Mana One's access to the trench to farm rare earth minerals that could earn them billions. Montes kills his crew in an explosion to cover up their activities, which causes a rupture in the trench and grounds both Jonas’ and Jiuming's ships.
DJ, Mac, and fellow Mana One analyst Jess discover that the rescue pod has been sabotaged, forcing the crew to use exosuits to walk towards the station in the creature-filled trench, with only Jonas, Meiying, Jiuming and security officer Rigas surviving the journey. Jess reveals herself as a traitor and attempts to remotely kill the four, but they escape the station in another submersible after a scuffle with Montes, who escapes to the surface through a buoy. Driscoll sends mercenaries to take over the Mana One while Montes surfaces and meets with Jess. As the crew surfaces, they discover the rupture from earlier which leads to several of the creatures, including the three Megs, a swarm of lizard-like creatures known as Snappers and a giant octopus escaping the trench and reaching the surface.
Jonas’ crew meets with DJ and Mac, and Montes focuses the mercenaries on the crew after Jess is devoured by a Meg. Jonas’ team escapes to a nearby resort, Fun Island, to warn them of the approaching creatures. Driscoll, Montes and the mercenaries arrive at Fun Island to eliminate Jonas’ crew, but they are instead attacked by the Snappers, who devour Driscoll and several mercenaries. Jonas’ group splits up to evacuate the tourists as the Megs and the octopus begin their attack. Jonas manages to kill the beta male Meg using an explosive taped to a harpoon before being attacked by Montes, leading both to sail to the beach. The two battle before Jonas knocks Montes into the mouth of the alpha Meg to be consumed. Jiuming creates a bomb out of fertilizer and along with Mac takes over Driscoll's unattended helicopter to fly towards the beach where Meiying is trying to help tourists.
The octopus takes down the helicopter and Jiuming injures it with his bomb, attracting Haiqi, who engages in a battle with the Octopus and proceeds to kill the beast. As Jiuming swims towards the wreckage to save Mac, Jonas picks up one of the helicopter's rotors and uses it to fatally impale the alpha Meg through the head. Haiqi heads towards Jonas, Jiuming, and Mac, but Jiuming uses his training signals to redirect her attention to a pod of dolphins swimming away. Making their way to the beach, Jiuming reasons that Haiqi escaped captivity because it was mating season, and discusses the possibility that she is pregnant. Jonas decides that it is better not to think about it, and the group celebrate their survival.
Production
Development
In April 2018, Jason Statham said a sequel to The Meg (2018) would happen if the film did well with the public, saying: "I think it's like anything in this day and age – if it makes money, there's obviously an appetite to make more money. And if it doesn't do well, they'll soon sweep it under the carpet--but that's the way Hollywood works."[9] In August 2018, Steve Alten said: "My feeling has always been that this is a billion dollar franchise if it was done right. But to be done right you had to get the shark right, get the cast right, get the tone right. And Warner Bros. have nailed it completely. The producers have nailed it."[10] In October 2018, executive producer Catherine Xujun Ying announced a sequel was in the early stages of development.[11]
Pre-production
In March 2019, it was announced that a script for the film was in the works, with screenwriters Dean Georgaris, and Jon and Erich Hoeber returning.[12][13] In his September 2020 newsletter, Alten confirmed the script, titled Meg 2: The Trench, to be complete, and expressed interest in its "dark" tone.[14] In October 2020, Ben Wheatley was announced to direct.[15][16]
Filming
In April 2021, Statham said filming was set to begin in January 2022.[17] Filming commenced as planned at the end of January at the Warner-owned Leavesden Studios outside London, with principal photography starting on February 4, 2022.[18] It continued there until May before switching to outdoor locations, presumably in Asia. While the production was ongoing, Sienna Guillory, Skyler Samuels, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, and Wu Jing were announced as part of the cast.[18]
Post-production
DNEG, Scanline VFX and Milk VFX provided the visual effects for the sequel (with DNEG also handling the 3D conversion). Pete Bebb and Gavin Round served as production visual effects supervisor and production visual effects producer respectively.
Music
Harry Gregson-Williams composed the score for the sequel, returning from the first film.[19] WaterTower Music released a score album on July 28, in addition to the Bankay Ojo's remix version of Page Kennedy's song "Chomp."[20]
Track listing
All music is composed by Harry Gregson-Williams
| Title |
|---|
| 1. | "Into the Trench" | 6:14 |
|---|
| 2. | "Rescue Approach" | 4:25 |
|---|
| 3. | "Fun Island" | 4:11 |
|---|
| 4. | "Fighting Montes" | 2:23 |
|---|
| 5. | "Sea Dino Attack" | 5:22 |
|---|
| 6. | "Octopus Attack" | 2:49 |
|---|
| 7. | "Across the Four Seas" | 6:26 |
|---|
| 8. | "Monster vs. Monster" | 3:22 |
|---|
| 9. | "All Systems Down" | 3:48 |
|---|
| 10. | "Close Call" | 4:14 |
|---|
| 11. | "Shark Kill" | 1:53 |
|---|
| 12. | "Reunited with Meiying" | 2:29 |
|---|
| 13. | "Chomp (Bankey Ojo Remix) (Page Kennedy)" | 3:39 |
|---|
| Total length: | 51:15 |
|---|
[21]
Release
Meg 2: The Trench was released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on August 4, 2023.[7] The film had its world premiere at the Shanghai International Film Festival on June 9, 2023.[22]
Home media
Meg 2: The Trench was released on digital download on August 25, 2023, on the streaming service Max on September 29, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD on October 24, 2023 by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.[23]
Reception
Box office
Meg 2: The Trench grossed $82.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $315.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $397.7 million.[4][5]
In the United States and Canada, Meg 2: The Trench was projected to gross $20–30 million from 3,503 theaters in its opening weekend.[2] It made $12 million on its first day, including $3.2 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $30 million, finishing second behind holdover Barbie.[3][24] The film made $12.8 million and $6.7 million in its second and third weekends, finishing in fourth and sixth, respectively.[25][26]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 27% of 182 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "It isn't without its fun moments, but Meg 2: The Trench suffers from a disjointed story that drifts for too long before finally delivering a few campy thrills."[27] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 40 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[28] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled at PostTrak gave it an 72% overall positive score, with 55% saying they would definitely recommend the film.[24]
In a negative review, RogerEbert.com's Brian Tallerico gave one out of four stars, and wrote: "At least until the final half-hour, when he’s finally free to unleash some monstrous chaos, this is one of the dullest films of the year, a plodding, poorly made giant shark movie that inexplicably lets the giant shark take a backseat to an evil underwater drilling operation."[29]
Richard Lawson wrote in Vanity Fair: "Meg 2 is confident in its schlock, piling on one ridiculous conceit after another at such a pace that the audience can’t help but be swept up in it. That is a harder needle to thread than many filmmakers seem to think — it’s not enough to just be stupid."[30]
Accolades
At the 44th Golden Raspberry Awards, the film is nominated for Worst Picture, Worst Actor for Statham and Worst Director for Wheatley.[31]
Future
In July 2023, Wheatley stated there had been internal discussions about a potential third installment. While its development depends on the success of The Trench, he hopes to continue the story as outlined in the novels by Steve Alten.[32]
