“The Greatest Shark Film Of All Time”

Summary

• Director Ben Wheatley cites Steven Spielberg’s Jaws as the biggest inspiration for The Meg 2, calling it not only the greatest shark film but one of the greatest films of all time.
• Wheatley also draws inspiration from monster movies like Godzilla and Thing From Another World, as well as ’40s adventure films with scientific elements.
• The sequel aims to maintain the vulnerable and relatable characters from the first film, offering an adventure where the audience can understand and worry about the protagonists.

While speaking to ScreenRant, The Meg 2: The Trench director Ben Wheatley revealed that Steven Spielberg’s Jaws was the biggest inspiration for his latest film and explained how the 1975 classic action thriller as well as other monster movies influenced The Meg sequel.

The Meg 2: The Trench stars Jason Statham, Jing Wu, Cliff Curtis, Shuya Sophia Cai, Page Kennedy, Sienna Guillory, Melissanthi Mahut, and Skyler Samuels. The film follows Jonas Taylor (played by Statham, who reprises his role from the first film) and other survivors from The Meg as they once again go up against the megalodon.

Wheatley discussed the sequel and the various inspirations behind his new film. When asked about what influences the director used for The Meg 2, the filmmaker said, “A lifetime of watching monster movies. It comes from, I think, being a kid and watching [Ray] Harryhausen’s stuff; watching Jason and the Argonauts and Sinbad and all those movies. I remember watching Jaws as a kid on TV, and that blowing my mind.”

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Ben Wheatley Revealed That He Watches Steven Spielberg’s Classic Action Thriller “Every Year”

Warner Bros. Pictures

He went on to say, “In fact, I’ve probably watched Jaws every year since and always see new things in it. It’s not just the greatest shark film of all time, but one [sic] the greatest films of all time. So, I take a lot of influence from that. And then I really love the kind of 70s Godzilla stuff, then Shin Godzilla, and the current influence of legendary Godzilla movies. It’s all that stuff.”

Wheatley then added, “But then also, on the human side, it’s kind of like Thing From Another World, or those ’40s science-based adventures with lots of characters trying to solve stuff, and that that all feeds in. And Them!, the giant ant movie. It’s a lot.”

The Kill List director later noted, “I got on board with this because I really loved the first Meg. So I wanted to make sure as much as we could learn as much from that as possible. That we would give the fans they’re [sic] fix of the Meg, and they won’t come to it and go, ‘Whoa, this is not the Meg I knew. This is a different Meg.’ So we wanted to bring all that which is, for me, I felt that it was this idea that it was an adventure that had characters that were vulnerable.”

He continued, “They were trying to solve things, but they could be killed at any moment. And that was what resonated a lot with the audience because it was more something they could understand on their level, rather than about a superhero film where they could never be those people.”

Wheatley added, “They look up to them, but you can’t be them. I felt like that was my big takeaway for me. It was like, ‘Oh, my god, yeah. I worry about these people and I like them. They’re just working people who are trying to get through a day, and they’re trying really hard to solve stuff.”

The Meg 2: The Trench is now playing in theaters.

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