Previously thought to be extinct, a massive creature attacks a deep-sea submersible, leaving it disabled and trapping the crew at the bottom of the Pacific. With time running out, a visionary oceanographer recruits rescue diver Jonas Taylor to save the crew and the sea itself from an unimaginable threat -- a 75-foot-long prehistoric shark known as the Megalodon.
The Meg is a 2018 science fiction action film directed by Jon Turteltaub from a screenplay by Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber. It is loosely based on the 1997 novel MEG: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten. The film stars Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, Winston Chao, and Cliff Curtis. In the plot, a group of scientists encounter a 75-foot-long megalodon shark during a deep-sea rescue mission at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
Walt Disney Studios originally purchased the film rights to the novel in the late 1990s, but spent years in development hell. The rights eventually landed in the hands of Warner Bros. Pictures, and the film was green-lit in 2013. Turteltaub and much of the cast joined by September 2014, and filming began in New Zealand and Sanya, China, ending in January 2017.
The Meg was released in the United States on August 10, 2018. It was a box office success, grossing $530 million worldwide, and received mixed reviews from critics. A sequel, Meg 2: The Trench, was released on August 4, 2023.
Plot[]
After escaping an attack; by what he claims was a 70-foot shark, Jonas Taylor must confront his fears to save those trapped in a sunken submersible.
Une équipe de sauvetage dirigée par Jonas Taylor sauve un groupe de marins piégés à l’intérieur d’un sous-marin nucléaire coulé lorsque Jonas voit la coque du sous-marin endommagée par une créature inconnue. Deux sauveteurs sont coincés dans le sous-marin endommagé et disent que leur retour au submersible de sauvetage prendra quelques minutes. Taylor les laisse derrière lui car il a peur qu’ils meurent tous s’ils attendent. Alors qu’ils partent, le sous-marin endommagé explose. L’affirmation de Taylor est qu’une créature marine géante a causé la catastrophe. Il est renvoyé par son coéquipier, le Dr. Heller, qui pense que Taylor a été affecté par une psychose induite par la pression et le blâme pour la perte de leurs amis.
Cinq ans plus tard, le milliardaire Jack Morris rencontre le Minway Zhang au centre de recherche sous-marine "Mana One'', que Morris finance. Zhang et sa fille, Suyin Zhang, océanographe, supervisent une mission visant à explorer ce qui pourrait être une section plus profonde de la fosse des Mariannes, dissimulée par un nuage de sulfure d’hydrogène thermocline. La mission est menée par Lori (l’ex-femme de Taylor), Toshi et The Wall dans un submersible. La mission semble bien se dérouler jusqu’à ce qu’une très grande créature frappe le submersible, lui faisant perdre le contact avec Mana One.
James Mackreides, un autre membre de l’équipage de la station, suggère d’envoyer Taylor tenter un sauvetage, citant la similitude avec son histoire. Malgré les objections de Heller, Zhang et Mac décident de se rendre en Thaïlande pour recruter Taylor quand même. Suyin tente de le sauver elle-même après avoir reçu un signal du submersible, mais un calmar colossal intervient. Avant qu’il ne puisse détruire son vaisseau, un énorme requin apparaît et le tue. Acceptant de l’aider, Taylor atteint le submersible piégé, sauvant Lori et le Mur. Cependant, lorsque le requin géant revient, Toshi se sacrifie en fermant la porte de l’écoutille et en détachant le navire de sauvetage. Mais avant de faire cela, Toshi s’assure que la lettre à sa femme sera remise en la mettant dans la poche du Mur. Cela permet à Taylor, Lori et The Wall de s’échapper en toute sécurité pendant qu’il détourne l’attention du requin vers son sous-marin, le faisant plonger dans un évent thermique, provoquant une explosion.
De retour à Mana One, l’équipage découvre que le requin est un mégalodon, le plus grand requin jamais connu, que l’on croyait éteint depuis des millions d’années. Pendant ce temps, la fille de Suyin, Meiying, se rend dans le grand verre menant à une belle vue sous-marine de l’océan, et voit le Megalodon à travers le verre, et est pétrifiée. Lorsque Suyin descend avec Taylor, ils voient une baleine se faire dévorer vivante par l’énorme requin. L’équipage se rend alors compte qu’il s’est échappé des profondeurs de la tranchée en nageant à travers un trou dans la thermocline créé par l’explosion de l’évent thermique, augmentant brièvement la température suffisamment pour qu’il puisse passer en toute sécurité. Le groupe décide de traquer et d’empoisonner le Megalodon, ce qu’ils réussissent à faire. En injectant de l’étorphine au Megalodon, le masque à oxygène de Suyin est compromis, mais Taylor la ranime avec la RCR. Malgré le succès initial, Taylor commente que les dents ne correspondent pas à l’attaque précédente. Peu de temps après, un deuxième Megalodon, plus colossal, émerge de l’eau, dévore The Wall et le plus petit Megalodon, et fait chavirer le bateau. Il dévore également Heller, qui sauve la vie d’un autre membre de l’équipage, Jaxx, en l’attirant à lui. L’équipage survivant retourne à Mana Un en deux canots, mais Zhang succombe et meurt des blessures causées par l’attaque du plus grand Megalodon. Morris annonce qu’il a informé les gouvernements locaux et les forces navales, mais que c’est hors de leur contrôle. Il a renvoyé tout l’équipage et leur a conseillé d’évacuer le matin.
À la tombée de la nuit, Morris tente de détruire le Megalodon lui-même en ordonnant à un équipage d’hélicoptère de larguer des grenades sous-marines modifiées, citant que les actions de la créature pourraient entraîner des poursuites judiciaires. Il s’approche de la carcasse du supposé Megalodon dans un bateau mais découvre qu’il s’agit d’une baleine. Lorsque le Megalodon approche, le bateau accélère, ce qui fait tomber Morris par-dessus bord et être mangé par le Megalodon. Taylor et le reste de l’équipage de Mana One découvrent la tromperie de Morris et décident de traquer et de tuer le requin, réalisant qu’il est en route vers une plage bondée de la baie de Sanya.
Le Megalodon tue plusieurs baigneurs avant que l’équipage de Mana One ne joue l’audio d’un appel de baleine pour détourner l’attention du requin vers eux. Taylor et Suyin tentent de détruire le mégalodon avec des torpilles truquées, en vain, et le submersible de Taylor est gravement endommagé. Taylor parvient à couper le Megalodon avec des parties de son sous-marin et à le poignarder dans l’œil droit avec un harpon. En raison de la présence de sang, plusieurs requins de la région remarquent le sang et dévorent le mégalodon, le tuant finalement. Pendant la bagarre, Suyin a pu évacuer tout le monde vers un bateau où un couple chinois se marie. Taylor monte sur le bateau, et lui et Suyin envisagent de prendre des vacances pour célébrer leur triomphe.
Cast[]
- Jason Statham as Jonas Taylor
- Li Bingbing as Suyin Zhang
- Rainn Wilson as Jack Morris
- Ruby Rose as Jaxx Herd
- Winston Chao as Minway Zhang
- Cliff Curtis as Mac Mackreides
- Page Kennedy as DJ
- Jessica McNamee as Lori Taylor
- Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as the The Wall
- Robert Taylor as Frank Heller
- Sophia Cai as Meiying Zhang
- Masi Oka as Toshi
- Rob Kipa-Williams as D'Angelo
- Tawanda Manyimo as Marks
- Ky Safari as Kaylen Daniels "Beach Girl"
Development[]
A film based on the novel has been mired in development hell for nearly two decades. Disney's Hollywood Pictures initially acquired the rights to the novel in 1996. Around that time, Tom Wheeler was hired to adapt the book into a screenplay, but, having decided that his script was not good enough, the studio hired Jeffrey Boam to write a new draft. Boam's script was later rejected for the same reason. By 1999, the project had stalled, and the rights reverted to Steve Alten, the book's author.
After six years, reports surfaced that the film was slated for a 2008 release date and was to be made by New Line Cinema, which had recently bought the rights from Alten. Names that were attached to the project included Jan De Bont as director, Guillermo Del Toro as producer, and Shane Salerno as screenwriter. However, in July 2007, New Line cancelled the project due to budgetary concerns. Steve Alten had said that once his relationship with New Line was finally over, he would be taking the property elsewhere. By 2009, production began under producer Belle Avery, through her Apelles Entertainment banner, with Alten writing the screenplay.
In 2015, it was announced that the film was now moving forward at Warner Bros. Pictures, with a new script written by Dean Georgaris. The company hired Eli Roth to direct the adaptation of the novel, but due to creative differences, the title later transferred to Jon Turteltaub in early 2016, who would direct the film for the remainder of the production. In April, various media outlets reported that action star Jason Statham would be taking the lead role of Jonas Taylor. Statham and much of the cast joined the later months of August and September 2016.
The film is an American and Chinese co-production. It was considered a full co-production under Chinese regulations, and it was not subject to the same quota system and revenue sharing agreements usually applied to imported films. Principal photography began on October 13, 2016, in West Auckland, New Zealand, and wrapped up on January 4 in Sanya City of Hainan, China.
Release[]
Released by Gravity Pictures in China and Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States, the film was initially scheduled to premiere on March 2, 2018. Warner and Gravity then said that the film would be released during the 2018 Chinese New Year period in China, a week-long annual holiday on February 16. The film was later pushed back from its original premiere date to a summer release of August 10, 2018. The studio spent $140 million on global prints and advertisements for the production alone.
The Meg was released for digital download on October 30, 2018, and on Ultra HD Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray 3D, Blu-Ray, and DVD on November 13. As of August 2020, it is available to stream on Amazon Prime in the United Kingdom as well as Hulu in the United States by May 2023. It is also available on Amazon Prime in the United States.
Reception[]
Box office[]
The Meg grossed $145.4 million in the United States and Canada as well as $348.8 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $530.2 million, against a production budget between $130-178 million. Deadline Hollywood reported the film needed to gross around $400 million in order to break-even.
In the United States and Canada, it was initially projected to gross $20-22 million from 4,119 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $4 million from Thursday night previews, leading analysts to predict it would outperform its low $20 million projections. After making $16.5 million on its first day, weekend estimates were raised to $40 million. It went on to debut at $45.4 million, topping the box office and marking the best solo opening of Statham's career, as well as Turteltaub's. The film made $21.5 million in its second weekend and $13 million in its third, finishing second behind Crazy Rich Asians both times.
The film debuted to $101.5 million from ninety-six countries in other territories, for a worldwide opening of $146.9 million. In China, a co-producer of the film grossed $50.3 million from 12,650 screens and ranked three in the opening weekend. Other top openings were Mexico ($6.2 million), Russia ($5 million), the United Kingdom ($4.4 million), Spain ($2.4 million), and the Philippines ($2 million).
Critical response[]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 46% based on 307 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "The Meg sets audiences up for a good old-fashioned B-movie creature feature, but lacks the genre thrills—or the cheesy bite—to make it worth diving in." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it an average 3 out of 5 stars.
Owen Gleiberman of Variety gave the film a mixed review, calling it "neither good enough—nor bad enough," and writing, "The Meg, a rote sci-fi horror adventure film that features a shark the size of a blue whale, comes on like it wants to be the mother of all deep-sea attack movies. But it's really just the mother of all generically pandering, totally unsurprising Jaws ripoffs."
Scott Mendelson of Forbes was impressed by the film's special effects and called it "a polished B movie that delivers the goods." At the same time, IGN's William Bibbiani praised the performances of the cast, particularly Statham.
Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Simon Abrams said the film was "refreshingly unpretentious" and "a breath of fresh air" compared with the Sharknado series.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The 2018 film, The Meg, is based on the 1997 book, MEG: A Novel of Deep Terror.
- Even though the film is an adaptation of the book Meg 1997 it is near completely different, the book is a horror/thriller that blends science fiction with sciebe to blur the lines and feels founded. The book also doesn't hold back on the gore, the film went the later fast n furious style of action comedy with the removal of all human blood. Mostly a mix of pandering to a younger audience and the chinese market.
External Links[]
The Meg (film) on IMDb
The Meg on Wikipedia