MEG 2: THE TRENCH

[dragon53]

MEG 2: THE TRENCH---Ben Wheatley (REBECCA) will direct the movie sequel based on Steve Alten's sequel novel THE TRENCH. Jason Statham is returning and will be involved in the development of the sequel. Statham was not happy with the original movie's PG-13 rating, "You go, 'Where's the f*cking blood?' It's like, 'There's a shark.'"

[paintingdinos]

I'm honestly excited for this. The first one was great as a b-movie monster flick that just happened to have a big budget. Also pretty sure there was a pack of Kronosaurs in the original novel so that should be fun to see if nothing else (assuming they stick to the novel's plot).

[stargatedalek]

I already want to barf. The books have this really dumb plot of marine reptiles surviving in abysses because "geothermal activity makes them warm enough", and I doubt this will be anything different.

I'm all for some fun, goofy action movies, but these are just cringe movies. Sharknado with more money.

[Takama]

I liked the First Film.     I Liked it better then a certain other high budget Prehistoric Centric film that came out in 2018.   

I hope the Studios dont Screw this up, and just give us the R Rating

[ITdactyl]

Jason Statham riding the silliness... As Jason Statham does.

I also enjoyed the first movie. I hope the sequel doesn't take itself too seriously just to go darker. I'd never expect hollywood to go the scientific route, but am still wishing they'd make it less campy.

[Gwangi]

I already want to barf. The books have this really dumb plot of marine reptiles surviving in abysses because "geothermal activity makes them warm enough", and I doubt this will be anything different.

I'm all for some fun, goofy action movies, but these are just cringe movies. Sharknado with more money.

They also evolved gills, wouldn't want to forget that! And it wasn't just marine reptiles, there's prehistoric fishes like Leedsichthys and Helicoprion. And Livyatan shows up eventually too.

I read most of the Meg books this past summer, and honestly the absurdity of them is what saved me from an otherwise dismal year. Sometimes it's nice to have a fun escape. But they are exceptionally stupid, I fully acknowledge that fact and after reading 4 of them I needed a break. But I'm the kind of guy that can read both Steve Alten and Richard Ellis (even if they hate each other) or watch Shark Attack 3: Megalodon and Blue Planet. I can disassociate. The Meg movie was alright, I was entertained enough to watch a sequel.

[suspsy]

I had forgotten that Alten got a major hate-on for Ellis after the latter wrote a scathing review of Meg back in the day. So much so that he created a character named "Ellis Richard" in his next novel so that he could be killed by mutant pliosaurs or something like that. Pretty petty.

[Gwangi]

I had forgotten that Alten got a major hate-on for Ellis after the latter wrote a scathing review of Meg back in the day. So much so that he created a character named "Ellis Richard" in his next novel so that he could be killed by mutant pliosaurs or something like that. Pretty petty.

Yeah, Ellis Richard was in The Trench. I saw the name in there and figured it couldn't be a coincidence, that ultimately led me to reading Ellis's negative review of The Meg. Ridiculous.

[suspsy]

Here is Alten's outraged response to Ellis' negative review of MEG in 1997, followed by Ellis' longer, more informed, and more devastating comeback.

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-aug-03-bk-18854-story.html

Alten also has had more recent heat with Kronos Rising author Max Hawthorne, although I tend to side with Alten in that one.

[stargatedalek]

Here is Alten's outraged response to Ellis' negative review of MEG in 1997, followed by Ellis' longer, more informed, and more devastating comeback.

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-aug-03-bk-18854-story.html

Alten also has had more recent heat with Kronos Rising author Max Hawthorne, although I tend to side with Alten in that one.

Hehe, I think I'm starting to like this Ellis fellow.

And he's right, Meg may not be my cup of tea but it's definitely some campy fun, and I can still understand the appeal (of the books even more so).

[Gwangi]

Here is Alten's outraged response to Ellis' negative review of MEG in 1997, followed by Ellis' longer, more informed, and more devastating comeback.

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-aug-03-bk-18854-story.html

Alten also has had more recent heat with Kronos Rising author Max Hawthorne, although I tend to side with Alten in that one.

Yup, I had read that too. I recall a lot of negative criticism launched at The Meg book via the "Shark-L" listserve back in the day. That's the reason I didn't bother with the series until recently when I found the first three for a dollar each. But I've been a fan of Richard Ellis's books since high school. I enjoyed reading their back-and-forth but ultimately I'm always siding with Richard Ellis.

@stargatedalek, I'm surprised that you aren't aware of Richard Ellis's many marine biology related books. You should check them out if you get the chance.

[paintingdinos]

It must be tiresome to spend untold hours crafting something you love, to hopefully share with others to enjoy, only to have someone you considered a source of inspiration go through your book and systematically tear it apart. Even more so when you wrote a science fiction horror novel. I didn't realize that text book scientific accuracy was a hallmark of the genre but then, I have always been more of a fantasy person myself.

Must be especially hard being a first time writer. I'm glad Alten kept writing his books and people enjoyed them enough for there to be fun, big budget action flicks made from them.

Plus it's nice to see a fun little franchise emerging out of a company in that ISN'T Disney for a change.

The more I think about it, the more excited I am that this exists.

[Giganotosaurus]

I really enjoyed the first film. I need to read the books still.
As for a sequel, I hope they add another prehistoric sea creature, such as pliosaurus.

[acro-man]

The first movie really got me on my nerves.
Dam, any shark movie will do, as long as the shark doesn't look too fake.

[dragon53]

THE MEG 2: THE TRENCH---director Ben Wheatley commented on if Jason Statham, Li Bingbing and other members of the original cast are returning, and he hinted about more than one Megalodon, "I don't think I can say at the moment what's going on, the ins and outs of it. But guaranteed, there will be a Megalodon — maybe more than one."
Wheatley said about the script, "...the script is by the Hoeber brothers that wrote the first script, so it's kind of a continuation on from that story."
He added, "A lot of it is respecting THE MEG, and trying to make sure it's a great MEG film. And as you can see from the movies I've made, they're not necessarily, it's not ... when you go and do DOCTOR WHO, I don't completely change it because I wanted to do it. I didn't want to necessarily make it something completely different that nobody recognized, you know? So there's that element of back and forth."
He said the sequel's bigger budget allows more action scenes, "It's an opportunity to do action on such an insanely large scale, that it's just unbelievable. From doing FREE FIRE, which was, I thought, was all my Christmases came at once in terms of action, this is just unbelievable. And just doing the storyboards for it, just thinking and going, 'Oh,' it's just ... I feel a heavy responsibility for it, to make sure that it kind of delivers on all the, to all the big shark fans out there."

[Dynomikegojira]

Lol there was more than one Megalodon in the first one what is Bean Wheatley thinking.

[Gwangi]

If it's accurate to the book than megalodon won't be the only creature in the film.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

lets just name the elephant in the room. Pliosaurs. There better be pliosaurs.   lol

I'd actually rather watch a film version of Kronos Rising...

[dragon53]

MEG 2: THE TRENCH---Jason Statham commented on the status of the sequel, "We're gonna start shooting in January if I get my dates right. Ben Wheatley is the director. I'm very excited to work with him. I'm thrilled to get going. It's been a while. We've been waiting around for the right scripts to come in and the right director to turn up, and we've got all those things, and they're all stacked up now."
He added, "[Wheatley's] great. We have a great shorthand already. We've got similar taste. I like his movies. I think he's a brilliant director. I think we've got a good shot at making something good."

[GojiraGuy1954]

I really enjoyed The Meg. I went to see it with my best friend when it came out and it was my first time without my family in the cinema. I really hope it follows through on the books, Pliosaurs in a high-budget movie like this would be incredible.