Meg 2: The Trench Trailer and Poster Tease More Giant Shark Action for Jason Statham

You’ll never want to go in the water ever again. Though, having said that, you might be pleased you did when you once again bask in the ludicrous sight of action movie superstar Jason Statham going head-to-head with a giant shark in the first trailer for Meg 2: The Trench. Released courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures, Meg 2: The Trench promises to bring an even bigger monster mash to theaters when it’s unleashed later this year. Check out the new trailer for Meg 2: The Trench below.

Released back in 2018, The Meg follows The Stath and a group of scientists who encounter a 75-foot-long megalodon shark while on a rescue mission on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. Entering the world of men and treating it like an all you can eat buffet, The Meg was met with mixed reviews, though many appreciated the B-movie creature feature throwback. Despite the critical response, The Meg saw huge success at the box office, grossing a worldwide total of $530.2 million. Of course, with such financial success comes the inevitable follow-up…

Thus, Meg 2: The Trench will reunite audiences with Jason Statham as gruff rescue diver Jonas Taylor, who once again finds himself playing the hero when the megalodon returns. Directed by Ben Wheatley and written by Dean Georgaris, and Jon and Erich Hoeber, and based on the 1999 book The Trench by Steve Alten, Meg 2: The Trench stars Sienna Guillory, Cliff Curtis, Shuya Sophia Cai, Page Kennedy, Skyler Samuels, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, and Wu Jing alongside Statham.

RELATED: The Meg 2: The Trench: Plot, Cast, and Everything Else We Know

Director Ben Wheatley Is Determined to Bring the Action in Meg 2: The Trench

Meg 2: The Trench director Ben Wheatley, who is best known for the likes of the psychological horror outing Kill List and the black-comedy action flick Free Fire, is determined to bring big scale action to the big screen with the sequel.

“It’s an opportunity to do action on such an insanely large scale, that it’s just unbelievable,” the filmmaker teased. “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.”

While one of the biggest criticisms leveled at The Meg was its distinct lack of blood and gore (surely necessary elements in a movie about a giant shark), Wheatley has stated that he will honor the tone of the first outing. “A lot of it is respecting The Meg, and trying to make sure it’s a great Meg film,” he explained. “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.”

Meg 2: The Trench is scheduled to be released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on August 4, 2023.