Follow a teaser image released last year, we now have the first trailer that pits Jason Statham against a gargantuan prehistoric Megalodon. That’s right, Statham will transport us to the world of giant-shark hunting this summer in The Meg.
Directed by Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure), the film revolves around a deep-sea submersible containing a bunch of experts as part of an international observation program that suddenly finds itself under attack by the 75-foot monstrosity. With the submersible and its crew now at the bottom of the Pacific, expert deep-sea diver Jonas Taylor (Statham) is recruited by an oceanographer (Winston Chao) as part of a rescue mission.
From the trailer, we see the mammoth shark stalking its prey in Jaws-like fashion before Statham’s character jumps into action rather fast and rather furiously to save the people. Not only does the shark attack the research team, it cuts a bloody path in open water going after yachts and, of course, swimmers.
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The thing is, with time running out, it turns out Taylor actually encountered the predator years before in his aquatic escapades and must now face his fears by engaging it once more. It’s clear, however, that he’ll need a much bigger boat.
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Based on Steven Alten’s 1997 sci-fi novel, The Meg was stuck in development hell for years. Eli Roth once expressed interest in the project, but eventually directorial duties went over to National Treasure’s Jon Turteltaub. Last March also saw the release of Meg: Generations, the seventh title in Alten’s ongoing shark saga, meaning there’s plenty of source material for Statham to build yet another franchise.
Swimming into theaters on Aug. 10, The Meg stars Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, Winston Chao, Page Kennedy, Jessica McNamee, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Robert Taylor, Cliff Curtis, Sophia Shuya Cai and Masi Oka.