Chinese Superstar Wu Jing Has Boarded Meg 2: The Trench
"The Meg" just might have met its match. The unstoppable shark-like mega monster from the 2018 film has now added a boost of international star power to act opposite action star Jason Statham. Wu Jing, proud owner of the title of highest-grossing male actor of all time in China, has joined the cast of "The Meg 2: The Trench," according to Variety. We have no official confirmation of this, but we're assuming he's probably going to punch the giant megalodon square in the face or something.
Wu has enjoyed decades of success as an actor and martial arts expert with almost 50 credits to his name, starring in films that Western audiences might recognize him from such as 2008's "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," 2015's "Wolf Warrior" (which he also wrote and directed), 2019's "The Wandering Earth" (now streaming on Netflix and worth watching because the premise involves — and I can't emphasize this enough — strapping giant engines to the planet and moving it to another solar system), and most recently in the record-breaking "The Battle at Lake Changjin" movies.
Unfortunately, the casting comes tempered with a dose of disappointing news, as well. Li Bingbing, who portrayed an oceanographer named Suyin in the first "The Meg" and served as a potential love interest of Jason Statham's character, will not be returning for the sequel. The star of the show is obviously the fearsome prehistoric megalodon wreaking havoc on everyone, first and foremost, but Bingbing and Statham displayed quite a bit of chemistry together in the first film and helped ground all the wackiness in something resembling heartfelt emotions. At the very least, Cai Shuya is expected to return as Suyin's daughter Meiying, providing some more much-welcomed continuity between the two films. We here at /Film take the question of fidelity to previous megashark movies that we may or may not have enjoyed in a guilty pleasure sort of way very seriously, folks.
Just when you thought it was safe to visit deep-sea trenches again...
After directing "The Meg" to box office success, director Jon Turteltaub has stepped aside in favor of the unexpected choice (to put it mildly) of Ben Wheatley for the sequel, because I guess it only makes sense for the director of low-budget movies like "High-Rise," "Free Fire," and "Rebecca" to take on a blockbuster like "The Meg 2: The Trench" next? Production on "The Meg 2" recently began earlier this month and, according to Variety, will continue on studio sets just outside of London until May, where location shooting will "likely" begin in Asia. Just yesterday, we received word that the trio of Sienna Guillory, Skyler Samuels, and Sergio Peris-Mencheta have all joined the cast of the sequel, with today's news of Wu Jing's addition further providing a boost to the ensemble.
"The Meg" is actually based on a series of novels by author Steve Alten, with the original movie's script written by Dean Georgaris, Erich Hoeber, and Jon Hoeber. All three are returning for the sequel. "The Meg" starred Statham, Li, Cai Shuya, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, Jessica McNamee, Masi Oka, Tawanda Manyimo, Winston Chao, Cliff Curtis, and more. Between this and "Aquaman," here's hoping for a boom in blockbuster movies predominantly concerned with terrifying deep-sea monsters bent on revenge against us poor and helpless souls living on the surface. And, again, allow me to reiterate my desire that someone, anyone, punches the megalodon in the face in "The Meg 2."