Interviews

‘The Meg 2: The Trench Director Discusses Creating an Even Larger Sequel’

August 25, 2023

7 mins read

The Meg 2: The Trench Director On Making A Sequel Bigger Than The First Movie

Summary

The Meg 2: The Trench is a thrilling blend of horror, suspense, action, and comedy, inspired by classic monster movies like Jaws and iconic creature features.
Director Ben Wheatley wanted to create an adventure with vulnerable characters that audiences could relate to and worry about, avoiding the typical superhero formula.
The sequel expands on the original film by introducing additional sea monsters, upping the stakes and providing new threats that cannot be easily escaped, ensuring non-stop excitement throughout.

Following the events of the first film, rescue diver Jonas Taylor returns in The Meg 2: The Trench along with other survivors from the first mission for another fight with the megalodon. A new research team goes on an exploratory mission to the deepest parts of the ocean, but things become more dangerous than ever when a mining operation threatens their voyage. This conflict turns into a high-stakes battle, and with Megalodon and other creatures rising from the depths, nowhere is safe.

The Meg 2: The Trench is directed by Ben Wheatley from a script penned by John Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, and Dean Georgaris. Jason Statham, Cliff Curtis, Page Kennedy, and Sophia Cai reprise their roles from the first movie in The Meg 2: The Trench. The movie also stars Wu Jing, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, and Skyler Samuels.

FilmmakerFocus spoke with director Ben Wheatley about his new movie, The Meg 2: The Trench. He reveals how movies like Jaws, which he watches yearly, influenced his directing style on The Meg 2: The Trench and how he wanted to make it bigger than the first. Wheatley also discusses collaborating with Statham and Wu Jing.

Ben Wheatley Talks The Meg 2: The Trench

FilmmakerFocus: Ben, I had so much fun watching this movie. This is a blended genre film that has horror, suspense, action, and comedy. It even has a kaiju moment in it, which I absolutely love. In the past, you’ve cited Hitchcock’s original Rebecca, The Shining, The Piano, and Don’t Look Now as visual inspiration for your films. What did you take as inspiration for The Meg 2: The Trench?

Ben Wheatley: 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.

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 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 cycle of legendary Godzilla movies. It’s all that stuff.

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 all feeds in. And Them!, the giant ant movie. It’s a lot.

What can fans from the first Meg movie expect from the sequel?

Ben Wheatley: Well, basically, 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 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 rnrn

Imagine an adventure filled with vulnerable characters, where every moment could be their last. That’s what made it so relatable to the audience. Unlike superhero films where we can only look up to the characters, in this film, we could truly understand and connect with them. They were just ordinary people trying to navigate through life and solve their problems.

What sets this film apart is its unwavering positivity. In a world where modern cinema can be cynical, these characters are constantly pushing forward. There’s not a cynical bone in their bodies. But we also knew that we needed to take it up a notch. When we return with the sequel, it won’t be just more of the same. It’ll be a whole new level of excitement and thrills.

I absolutely loved the first Meg, and I have to say, you don’t need to have seen it to enjoy The Meg 2. It’s a fantastic experience. Jason Statham is returning for this film, and I’d love to hear about your collaboration with him. I heard he was heavily involved in the production of The Meg 2: The Trench. Can you tell me more about that?

Ben Wheatley: Absolutely. Jason is fully invested in the script and the development of his character, Jonas. He brings a wealth of experience and understanding of action cinema, as well as his own iconic image. He knows what makes a hero and what makes audiences love a movie. Having someone like him on board is invaluable. It’s like having a treasure trove of knowledge.

We work closely together on every aspect of the film. There are constant negotiations on set, but it’s all because we have so many voices striving to make the film the best it can be. Wu Jing is another collaborator who comes from a Chinese cinema background, where they’re known for being vocal and open to changing scripts on the fly. It adds a lot of excitement and creativity to the process. But ultimately, everything we do is in service of creating a better movie.

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I’m really curious about Wu Jing’s character in this film. He brings such a unique energy to the screen, especially in his interactions with Cliff Curtis. Can you share more about their chemistry on set and behind the scenes?

Ben Wheatley: Wu Jing wanted to bring something different to his character. He didn’t want to play a similar role to Jason’s in other action movies like “Wolf Warrior” and “Wolf Warrior 2.” So we had discussions about how to make his character stand out. Wu Jing took on the role of the science expert, while Jason portrayed the physical powerhouse. Their dynamic was fantastic.

Working with Cliff Curtis was also a joy. Both Wu Jing and Cliff are incredibly funny individuals, and we had a lot of fun improvising scenes together. It was great to see Wu Jing team up with Cliff Curtis and also with Paige Kennedy. They all had great chemistry on set.

Absolutely. Can you talk about making The Meg 2 even more thrilling by introducing other sea monsters in the sequel?

Ben Wheatley: While the Megs are the stars of the show, we wanted to expand the world of The Meg 2. We needed a threat that could rival the Megs, something that would keep the audience on the edge of their seats. We introduced smaller, faster creatures that added different levels of danger. We wanted to create a sense that nowhere is safe in this world.

The third act of The Meg 2 is an absolute blast. It’s visually stunning and incredibly fun. Can you share any specific challenges you faced while making a movie of this scale?

Ben Wheatley: We had a lot of storyboards drawn, so we could keep everybody grounded. So they understood what was going on. We did a lot of previz, and post viz and all that kind of stuff. And then a lot of discussion. So we’d shoot and then I’d go back in the evening with John Amos, the editor, and we would look at all the stuff, and we go, “Oh God, is it going to fit?”

And then negotiation editing, negotiation with the producers, and you’re talking to Jason and we’re like “Yeah alright. Okay.” So it’s a massive job, but you’ve got massive resources at the same time. So it’s not as terrifying as doing a low budget thing which there’s no where to go if it goes wrong you’re screwed.

On this the only problem we had was everything we shot the studios we’re fine, because we could always go back and reshoot. But when we were shooting in Thailand, that was a definite dead stop at the end of that. So we were like “Christ!” And it was so complicated that stuff, but I think it was on the last day we looked at the rough cut and went ” Oh yeah, okay. We managed that.”

Yes, that third act is just so much fun. There’s just so much going on. I was on board with every single second of it. Can you talk about balancing the action, comedy, and suspense that’s in this film? Because you do such a great job of walking that fine line of balancing everything.

Ben Wheatley: Yeah, it is like kind of tuning a car or an engine and you’ve got to go as high as you can go on every element of it. But you know that if you go too high, you break the next element coming in. So there’s a bit of just kind of bringing stuff down. So we had a few really amazing sight gags, but then they kind of broke the world a bit. So we had to pull them back. And that makes sense. It’s slightly painful. But it’s a gamble all the time of how far can you push the audience?

Because you want them to really enjoy themselves, but then you don’t want to go, “Oh…” and then they don’t take the rest of it seriously. So that was the position really, but we figured the audience were down for it. So we could push it further than we might have done on something that was super serious frowny face kind of documentary style thing, but also we didn’t want to go so, so crazy that people go, “Ah, what’s that? That doesn’t make any sense.”

It seems destiny stepped in with you getting a chance to direct The Meg 2, since you watch Jaws every year. I know that you’re a big Godzilla fan. Is there a chance you would like to direct anything in the new Godzilla and King Kong universe?

Ben Wheatley: Yeah, of course. That’s one of the great series of movies that’s around. They’re always good; I always enjoy them. Definitely, there’s unfinished business for me with giant monsters. I’ll definitely return to that if I’m allowed.

About The Meg 2: The Trench

A daring research team on an exploratory dive into the deepest depths of the ocean. Their voyage spirals into chaos when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival.