Action icon Jason Statham is set to do battle with a 70 foot, 40 ton prehistoric shark – and now we know who will let the beast loose in the first place.
Deadline report that Rainn Wilson (‘Super,’ ‘The Office US’) has been cast in a leading role in ‘Meg,’ the long in-development big screen adaptation of Steve Alten’s 1997 novel.
The ‘meg’ of the title is the Carcharodon megaladon, a colossal ancestor of the great white shark. Statham will take the lead as Jonas Taylor, a submersible pilot who comes face to face with the undersea terror.
Wilson, meanwhile, will portray Jack Morris, a “tech billionaire” funding a deep sea observation program which accidentally sets the megaladon loose – and naturally, pandemonium ensues.
Having been trapped in development hell for almost twenty years, ‘Meg’ finally started coming to life at Warner Bros earlier this year when horror director Eli Roth signed on to take the helm. However, Roth has since left the project, reportedly over creative differences, and has been replaced by Jon Turteltaub (best known for the ‘National Treasure’ movies).
This big screen adaptation will move the action of Alten’s novel to China, where the film is being shot. Chinese actress Fan Bingbing will also star alongside Statham and Wilson, as well as up-and-coming star Ruby Rose of Netflix’s ‘Orange is the New Black’ (also set to be seen in ‘Resident Evil: The Final Chapter’ and ‘XXX: The Return of Xander Cage’).
Author Steve Alten has penned a further four ‘Meg’ books to date, so if Warner Bros play their cards right, they could have a franchise on their hands.
‘Meg’ is set to hit US cinemas on 2 March 2018; no UK release date has been announced yet.
