“Tonight, we’ll grill some tuna, have a lil’ vino, some kissy kissy, it’ll be great!”
In my opinion, MEG has maintained dibbs on “Award for Best Boner Shorts Concept Art” for a few years running. The 80-foot prehistoric pissed off shark movie–think death metal to Jaws’s hep jazz–needs to happen no matter what. Recently, The L.A. Times published an update about the feature adaptation of author Steve Alten’s 1997 page turner, that also rewinds MEG’s stint in Hollywood production hell.
The good? We still have the concept art. The pretty good? The film has a solid new financier, Appelles Publishing Inc. in Virginia, with three producers, including Watchmen producers Lloyd Levin and Lawrence Gordon, now riding the wave (the one with the 70,000 pound shark in it). This may finally happen! The bad? It’s MEG, a pricey fever dream even for an American blockbuster. The ugly? The fourth MEG book (due this summer) is entitled MEG: Hell’s Aquarium. (What would Peter Benchley say?)
You might recall that earlier this decade, director Jan de Bont (Speed, Speed 2: Jason Patrick) was close to steering the film into reality for New Line. Producers at the time included Guillermo del Toro and CHUD.com’s Nick Nunziata. In a funny tidbit from the LAT article, MEG’s creator, Alten, who sees this as a “billion dollar film franchise,” laughs remembering that one rejected script “stuck wings on the shark.” Somebody please email me that concept art! That is more friggin’ ‘tarded than Spinal Tap’s Shark Sandwich. Are we talking fairy wings or dragon wings?
Discuss: Do you believe in MEG? Who should direct MEG? What should MEG 4 be subtitled? Wings or no wings? Would you see MEG if Uwe Boll directed it? Michael Bay? Jason Reitman?
April 13th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
I think Uwe should direct that mess just because it’s that gangsta.
April 13th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Like Shark Attack 3
April 13th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
I cant wait for this film.. Ive read all of the books, and I love them all. But I believe there are already three Meg books. MEG, The Trench, and the one about him being on a game show. I could be wrong.
April 13th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Hunter, there are other directors working today besides Bay, Uwe Boll and Jason Reitman. Frequenting this site has made me occasionally forget that.
April 13th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
that is one big sumbitch shark lol
April 13th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
@ tatat
Uhh, that was the point. Why not suggest some for the movie then….
April 13th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
I would probably go with a genre fav director. RobRod would be cool, as long as Sharkboy doesn’t make an appearance. Plus, this sounds way cooler than Barbarella or a Jetsons flick.
April 13th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
uwe boll hahahahahhahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahaahhahaahahahahahahahha
hes so fucking cocky
hahahahhaa
April 13th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
The B movies were good stuff. I saw one called Megalodon. Brilliant acting.
April 13th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
That giant shark image scares me.
:I
April 13th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
This is great news! The book, Meg, was awesome! I can’t wait for this to hit the big screen.
April 13th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Actually the book that is coming out soon is the 4th one.
1st~Meg:novel of deep terror
2nd~ (Meg)The Trench
3rd~Meg:Primal Waters
4th~Meg:Hell’s Aquarium(due out soon)
April 13th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
I read this site everyday and have for quite sometime. I have come to the conclusion that Hunter is a hack. His article’s and contribution to this site are not needed. Peter, please end this hack’s run, you don’t need him or his contributions.
April 13th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Tyler, dude I agree with you completely. Lets get rid of writers like Hunter in general. I mean who wants to read some film buff calling movies out for what they are? After all, that’s what critics went to school for, right! For real though, if you care that much, here’s an idea - start your own blog! I’m sure you’ll generate a lot of hits!
April 14th, 2008 at 9:42 am
If this film gets made, with any sense of character development and attention to details that Jaws had, it could be amazing. ‘F’ the all digital sharks. Make it tangible, more realistic. Deep Blue Sea was fun (and hilarious at times, which probably wasn’t the intention) but digital sharks doing somersaults and back flips doesn’t work. The image alone of MEG makes me pee myself a little.
As for Hunter, let me chime in too. I’ve been thinking about his columns for about a month now, knowing that there are a lot of haters out there. I wouldn’t go so far as to call him a ‘hack’, but he’s definitely inconsistent. That said, I always read the headline first, then drop down just enough to see who wrote the column. If it’s Peter, then it’s a must read. If it’s Hunter, I ponder a moment before heading in to read the rest of the column. I’d say if you hate him so much, don’t read his articles. Peter’s got him on the site for a reason and since Peter’s not only the creator of the best movie news blog I’ve ever read not to mention all over the news these days, he knows what he obviously knows what he’s doing. Maybe Peter should create a special Hunter Stephenson section where all haters/critics can go and vent before heading back to the better articles. (Oh, and Hunter, if you’re reading this, the best article I’ve ever read of yours had to be your recollection of Tarantino. No joke, complete fanboy but utterly fantastic.)
April 14th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
I think it should be given to a first time unknown director. That way if the film sucks, the Director just goes away and we can all pretend it never happened.
I think the subtitle for it should be:
MEG: Are you fucking kidding me? This is a joke, right?
April 24th, 2008 at 10:40 am
With all the crap remakes and regurgitated plots the industry has been bending over and ass-blasting in our faces over the past decade, I would welcome this solely because of how legendary Jaws seems to be in the public eye despite the gaudiness of it’s sequels.
A new giant shark movie would be most welcome, especially if they can limit the CG as much as possibile.
As for a director, anybody but Uwe Boll. I think Bay would have fun with it, but I would be worried he would add too much ‘combat initiative’ on the part of the humans. You don’t fight a giant shark, you get as far away from it as possible.
For all the nay-sayers, remember Jaws? C’mon, man!