The Meg 2 Gets New Director With Rebecca Filmmaker Ben Wheatley

The Meg is about to reenter the waters of the movie landscape -- and now we know who will be helping make that happen. Over the weekend, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Ben Wheatley, who most recently helmed Netflix's adaptation of Rebecca, has been tapped to direct Warner Bros.' upcoming sequel of The Meg. While details surrounding the project's plot are currently unknown, the report indicates that a lot of the first film's cast is expected to return, with star Jason Statham reportedly being creatively involved.

In addition to Rebecca, Wheatley is known for his work on the psychological horror films Kill List and A Field in England. He also helmed the Tom Hiddleston-led dystopian drama High-Rise, and the black comedy Free Fire, which starred Brie Larson and Armie Hammer.

The Meg, which was directed by Jon Turteltaub, followed a group of scientists exploring the Marianas Trench, who encounter the largest marine predator that has ever existed - the Megalodon. The film was adapted from Steve Alten's 1997 novel Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror, and became a surprising cult hit when it debuted in 2018, grossing over $530 million at the global box office. The film also starred Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, and Ruby Rose.

The latest draft for the script for The Meg sequel is being written by Jon and Erich Hoeber, with Dean Georgaris writing the original draft. All three screenwriters contributed to the initial film. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Belle Avery are also expected to return as producers.

"We're working on a script, yeah," di Bonaventura said during a previous interview. "So you never know until you get a good script....I was very thankful that the audience got that we were just trying to have fun, [and] not take ourselves seriously at all."

What do you think of Wheatley directing a sequel to The Meg? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!