Producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura has promised more laughs, more shark attacks, more ideas (but still very little gore) in the upcoming monster movie sequel, Meg 2: The Trench. Speaking with Collider, Di Bonaventura revealed what the reaction has been like to the Jason Statham-led follow-up in test screenings, and it certainly sounds like Meg 2: The Trench will deliver for fans of the first outing.
“It’s really held its appeal, so in making this movie, one of the things we learned is you could add more comedy than we originally thought in a shark movie, in a way. So I think this movie is probably funnier. There’s certainly some big laughs in it. There’s more shark attacks. There’s more crazy ideas that we’ve tested out on the audience. So the movie, it’s testing well, but more importantly, the audience seems to be relating to it very similar to the first movie.”
Unfortunately for those looking for more brutality in their giant shark movie, Di Bonaventura has revealed that there won’t be much more blood and gore than the first The Meg. Though he does assure us that it will have an “edge.”
“They push back on the blood. As long as you don’t do gore, they sort of accept the fun nature of it, you know? And I think because of the fun nature, it takes the edge off it a little bit…But at the same time, the movie needs to have some edge, or else it feels like it becomes a spoof or something, and that’s definitely not what it is. So, I think the trickiest thing about The Meg is keeping that balance between violence and humor.”
Will The Stath Finally Punch a Shark in Meg 2: The Trench?
As suggested by the title, Meg 2: The Trench will delve down deep into the Mariana Trench, with the story spending a lot of time in this mysterious underwater world.
“I think the challenge will be how to find, in a way, another underwater world to explore. My gut says that’s the thing we’ll need to figure out so it doesn’t feel like you’re going to the same place over and over again. This time we go so much more time there, so it feels different. You’re really in there for a long stretch of the movie, so you get to know it, in a way, and you run into structures that people don’t know are down there, and things that are gonna surprise you and surprise the characters. But I think a third time there might feel like we’re overstaying our welcome. So I think that’ll be the task the next time is to figure out what is that next underwater experience that you want to find?”
But, the question remains, with Jason Statham finally punch a shark in the sequel?
“Well, not exactly, but maybe we top that idea. He might tap in a really violent way. He kicks a shark!”
Directed by Ben Wheatley from a screenplay by Jon Hoeber & Erich Hoeber and Dean Georgaris, and based on the novel by Steve Alten, Meg 2: The Trench finds Jason Statham and global action icon Wu Jing leading a daring research team on an exploratory dive into the deepest depths of the ocean. Pitted against colossal Megs and relentless environmental plunderers, our heroes must outrun, outsmart, and outswim their merciless predators in a pulse-pounding race against time.
Meg 2: The Trench is scheduled to be released on August 4, 2023, by Warner Bros. Pictures.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
