Hey guys, Jana here,
If the news about recent shark attacks hasn’t scared you from the beaches already, let’s let Eli Roth (‘Hostel‘, ‘Cabin Fever‘) give it a try. That’s what Warner Bros. has to be telling itself after closing a deal with the multi-talented director to helm a story titled ‘Meg‘ that’s spent some time at the top of the New York Times Bestseller list. Meg isn’t a coquettish girl, or the raving demon-bitch from ‘Supernatural‘ either, this Meg is an ancient threat to waterways as a 60 foot Megaladon tends to be.
Belle Avery and Colin Wilson are attached to produce through their banners, Atelles Entertainment, and Maedey Productions, respectively. The Steve Alten novel from 1997 gets the big screen treatment from screenwriter Dean Georgaris (‘The Manchurian Candidate‘). Gerald Molen and Randy Greenberg are on tap to exec produce with Gravity Pictures on board to co-finance and handle some distribution, mainly in China.
The story gives so much opportunity for a great adaptation with continuances if the studios want to go that way, Roth might do a sequel, but he believes a story is complete with a second movie and will not go further than that. ‘Meg‘ is only the first book in a series that spawned 5 sequels. The story claims that Megaladon’s existed back in the Cretaceous period and they never went away, cut to current day and our protagonist Jonas Taylor, a deep sea diver for the U.S. Navy on a secret dive in the Mariana Trench where he sees the fabled beast. Being the only survivor from the mission, he’s largely heralded a boy-who-cried-wolf or just an all-around nut (see Nic Cage in ‘National Treasure‘). A friend asks Taylor to accompany him on a dive back to the Mariana Trench, where his friend learns only too personally, Taylor was telling the truth and the sky is, indeed, falling…er swimming? From there it gets all science-y explaining how the beasties have been able to survive, blah blah blah.
It may have taken almost 20 years to get this story off the ground, but Roth’s attachment ensures the coming film will not be for the faint of heart and will, hopefully, make ‘Jaws‘ look like something that belongs in a children’s story. I love me some sharks and I truly adore ‘Jaws‘ so I’m excited for what this partnership could produce.
Roth seems like the perfect companion for the story that invokes more than just a little bit of terror of the deep blue given that his pedigree as a filmmaker is stellar, especially in the horror world where this bloody tale has to fit. He is also set to host Discovery Channel’s ‘Shark After Dark‘ for the highly anticipated ‘Shark Week‘ where he also dives into the briny depths to swim with the cold-blooded, doll-eyed bastards.