Meg 2: The Trench is a 2023 American action-adventure film directed by Ben Wheatley and written by Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber, and Erich Hoeber. It is the sequel to the 2018 film The Meg, and stars Jason Statham, Cliff Curtis, Li Bingbing, Jessica McNamee, Regina Hall, and Winston Chao. In the film, Jonas Taylor (Statham) must return to the Mariana Trench to rescue a group of scientists who are being held captive by a group of Megalodon sharks.

The film was released in the United States on August 4, 2023, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics, but was a box office success, grossing over $316 million worldwide.

Plot

Five years after the events of the first film, Jonas Taylor is living a quiet life in the Bahamas. He is called back into action when a group of scientists are attacked by a group of Megalodon sharks while exploring the Mariana Trench. Taylor must lead a team of divers to rescue the scientists and stop the Megalodons from attacking the surface world.

Cast

• Jason Statham as Jonas Taylor
• Cliff Curtis as Dr. Meiying Zhu
• Li Bingbing as Suyin Zhang
• Jessica McNamee as Jaxx Herd
• Regina Hall as Dr. Emily Knowlton
• Winston Chao as Dr. Zhang
• Shuya Sophia Cai as Meiying’s daughter
• Sergio Peris-Mencheta as Jack Morris
• Tyler Perry as Jackson “Jax” Hill
• Manny Jacinto as Toshi
• Masi Oka as Dr. Robert Hoak
• Olafur Darri Olafsson as Jonas’s father
• Catherine Shepherd as Lori

Production

Development on a sequel to The Meg began in 2018, with Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber returning to write the script. Ben Wheatley was hired to direct in 2019, and production began in Australia in January 2020. The film was originally scheduled to be released in March 2021, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was eventually released in the United States on August 4, 2023.

Reception

Meg 2: The Trench received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 52% based on 184 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The website’s critical consensus reads, “Meg 2: The Trench is a serviceable sequel that offers more of the same big-budget shark attacks and Jason Statham action.” On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating “mixed or average reviews”.

Meg 2 The Trench Trailer