One of the big issues in the current Hollywood writer’s strike is that the WGA wants to set rules so that studios can’t start making movies written by AI programs. And yet if there’s any film that looks like it was written by a computer, it’s Meg 2: The Trench, the sequel to The Meg, a giant prehistoric shark movie that was a modest blockbuster in 2018. Rest assured, all evidence to the contrary, this movie was made by humans. And in the first trailer for the sequel, action star Jason Statham finally gets to kick a shark.
Statham is reprising his role as Jonas Taylor, a rescue diver who was one of the few survivors of the run-in with a megalodon shark. Also returning from the original film are Cliff Curtis as James “Mac” Mackreides and Page Kennedy as DJ. That trio has seen all of this before, and that’s why they’re called back to action when activity is detected in the deep sea trench that the megalodon shark escaped from five years ago. Unfortunately, even Jonas’ crew is unprepared when three megalodons emerge from the trench and begin hunting unsuspecting beachgoers on vacation. But if the trailer is any indication, these aren’t the only creatures that have escaped to the surface.
New additions to the cast include Sienna Guillory, Shuya Sophia Cai, Skyler Samuels, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, and Wu Jing.
Ben Wheatley directed the film from a script by Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, and Dean Georgaris, which was in turn based on Steve Alten’s novel, The Trench. Meg 2: The Trench will swim into theaters on Friday, August 4.
