The Meg
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Short description
A rescue diver named Jonas Taylor is called back into deep water years after an earlier dive went wrong and left him haunted by what he saw. An international underwater observation programme has lost contact with a submersible, which now sits disabled at the bottom of the deepest trench in the Pacific with its crew trapped inside. The oceanographer behind the project, over his daughter Suyin's objections, recruits Taylor because of his rare experience with rescues at that depth. What waits below is a huge prehistoric shark, a species thought long extinct, and Taylor must confront the fear that ended his previous career while the team works to reach the stranded crew.
The film is directed by Jon Turteltaub, whose earlier work includes Cool Runnings, While You Were Sleeping and the two National Treasure films; it came after Last Vegas in his filmography. Jason Statham plays Taylor, with Li Bingbing as Suyin, Rainn Wilson as Morris, Cliff Curtis as Mac, Ruby Rose as Jaxx and Jessica McNamee as Lori. Dean Georgaris and the brothers Erich and Jon Hoeber wrote the screenplay. Made for a reported 130 million dollars, it took about 529 million dollars worldwide, a strong return on that outlay, suggesting broad international appeal.
On IMDb the film holds 5.7 from roughly 227,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.3 from a much smaller base of around 8,400. A critics' rating of 5.3 from 311 reviews places it close to the audience scores, so neither critics nor viewers were especially enthusiastic.
What's left behind the scenes
- New Line was so confident in the future success of the film that $80 million was allocated to the project, and its release was scheduled for the summer of 2006. Jan de Bont brought producer Colin Wilson, artist William Sandell, and visual effects specialist John Nelson onto the project. The team began storyboarding and even created a 1.5-meter model of the shark from clay and fiberglass. However, it turned out that the film's budget was relentlessly creeping upwards and could reach $200 million, and New Line began to lose interest. The company ordered the budget to be cut to $125 million, but continued to make new demands of the film. In 2007, the film rights reverted to the novel's author, Steve Alten. Eventually, the rights passed to Warner Bros. and work on the project resumed.
- When the project started in 1997, immediately after the release of Steve Alten's book, it was supposed to be handled by Disney, which had purchased the film rights for almost a million dollars. Over time, Disney lost interest in the project, especially after the release of Warner Bros.' "Deep Blue Sea" (Renny Harlin, 1999). Disappointed with this turn of events, Alten wrote the screenplay himself and showed it to Nick Nunziata, who in turn passed it on to Guillermo del Toro. Del Toro discussed the project with Lawrence Gordon and Lloyd Levin, who then brought Jan de Bont on board to realize it.
- Before a contract was signed with Jon Turteltaub, the directing job was offered to Eli Roth, but he preferred to film the thriller "Death Wish."
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