Until today, at least one more Rush Hour film was said to be happening as it has been hyped with franchise stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker possibly slated to reunite on the big screen. It’s anyone’s guess at this point when that film will start, although thanks from a report over at That Hashtag Show on Tuesday, fans can now add not one, but a second iteration, this time from STX.
We’re a long way from the Transporter films and so at least one question that has remained is if whether or not action star Jason Statham can carry an action film. 2015 remake Wild Card was a downer but thankfully the remainder of his films have brought him in good company and the same certainly goes for upcoming novel adaptation, The Meg. He’s got the front billing here for director Jon Turtletaub and notably, the campaign has already started resounding well with a number of netizens as the film picked up steam in the past week.
Author Steve Alten’s full-throated endorsement of the debut trailer and poster running online as of Monday surely speaks volumes, and with a cast that lists Chinese superstar Li Bingbing who now adds to the growing number of crossover titles she’s done in the last several years. The book franchise itself is still thriving which will ought to do plenty for relevance as the August 10 release date approaches, and with it, all emerging signs that The Meg could very well take a chunk out of the box office.
A deep-sea submersible—part of an international undersea observation program—has been attacked by a massive creature, previously thought to be extinct, and now lies disabled at the bottom of the deepest trench in the Pacific…with its crew trapped inside. With time running out, expert deep-sea rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Statham) is recruited by a visionary Chinese oceanographer (Winston Chao), against the wishes of his daughter Suyin (Li Bingbing), to save the crew—and the ocean itself—from this unstoppable threat: a pre-historic 75-foot-long shark known as the Megalodon. What no one could have imagined is that, years before, Taylor had encountered this same terrifying creature. Now, teamed with Suyin, he must confront his fears and risk his own life to save everyone trapped below…bringing him face to face once more with the greatest and largest predator of all time.
Also starring are Ruby Rose, Cliff Curtis and Page Kennedy, with Rainn Wilson, Winston Chao, Jessica McNamee, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Robert Taylor, Sophia Shuya Cai, and Masi Oka rounding out the cast. The official trailer is below along with an equally exquisite poster that catches the immediate looming anarchy and carnage. It’s perfect for a shark movie and given my initial affirmative, I’m curious!
Enjoy the trailer below!
Director Kimble Randall’s new film, 7 Guardians Of The Tomb, has since made its initial run in China following news of its U.S. landings. Thus, Gravitas Ventures is prepared to oblige with a limited theatrical, digital and VOD date stamped for February 23 to take in the thrills and chills headlined by actress Li Bingbing who hails yet another turning point in international film stardom from whipping her hair at Jackie Chan in Rob Minkoff’s The Forbidden Kingdom to battling evil alien robots in Transformers: Age Of Extinction.
Gravitas Ventures and Signature Entertainment have also acquired rights to the film for the U.S. and the U.K. respectively with release dates for both territories pending. Kellan Lutz and actress Li Bingbing star along with Kelsey Grammer and Chinese popstar Wu Chun from a script by Rendall and co-scribe Paul Staheli, and with Deng Shuo, Arclight chief Gary Hamilton, Ying Ye and Mark Lazarus serving as producers.
Kimble Randall’s third outing has arrived in time to put film fans on notice. Hailing with a January 19 release is the new action adventure thriller, Guardians Of The Tomb, ripe with a new official trailer this week, its title upgraded from its previous iteration as NEST, and boasting an ambitious 3D release with a cast aiming staunchly for wide markets.
He’s fought gangsters, criminals, time traveling serial killers, drug traffickers and terrorists. Now, action star Jason Statham’s latest challenge is yet to come, and in the form of a one long-forgotten shark of legend in the new action adventure, Meg, with production underway and China first up for grabs with the film’s premiere release.
The details are in the following announcement from Warner Bros and Gravity Pictures along with the first official set photo with Statham next to actress Li Bingbing. Peep it.
(L-r) JASON STATHAM is Jonas Taylor and LI BINGBING is Suyin in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Gravity Pictures’ action adventure “MEG,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo by Daniel Smith
BURBANK, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Principal photography is underway in New Zealand on the science fiction action thriller “Meg,” being directed by Jon Turteltaub (the “National Treasure” movies, “Last Vegas”). The film stars Jason Statham (“Spy,” “Furious 7,” “The Expendables” films). Award-winning Chinese actress Li Bingbing (“Transformers: Age of Extinction,” “Forbidden Kingdom,” “The Message”) has been set to star opposite Statham.
A deep-sea submersible—part of an international undersea observation program—has been attacked by a massive creature, previously thought to be extinct, and now lies disabled at the bottom of the deepest trench in the Pacific…with its crew trapped inside. With time running out, expert deep sea rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Statham) is recruited by a visionary Chinese oceanographer (Winston Chao), against the wishes of his daughter Suyin (Li Bingbing), to save the crew—and the ocean itself—from this unstoppable threat: a pre-historic 75-foot-long shark known as the Megalodon. What no one could have imagined is that, years before, Taylor had encountered this same terrifying creature. Now, teamed with Suyin, he must confront his fears and risk his own life to save everyone trapped below…bringing him face to face once more with the greatest and largest predator of all time.
Rounding out the international main cast of “Meg” are New Zealander Cliff Curtis (“The Dark Horse,” “Risen,” TV’s “Fear the Walking Dead”), Rainn Wilson (TV’s “The Office,” “Super”), Ruby Rose (“xXx: Return of Xander Cage,” TV’s “Orange is the New Black”), Winston Chao (“Skiptrace,” “Kabali”), Page Kennedy (TV’s “Rush Hour”), Jessica McNamee (“The Vow,” TV’s “Sirens”), Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (“The BFG,” TV’s “The Missing”), Robert Taylor (“Focus,” TV’s “Longmire”), Sophia Shuya Cai (“Somewhere Only We Know”), and Masi Oka (TV’s “Hawaii Five-0,” “Heroes”).
Turteltaub is directing the film from a screenplay by Dean Georgaris and Jon Hoeber & Erich Hoeber, based on the New York Times best-selling book by Steve Alten. Lorenzo di Bonaventura (the “Transformers” films), Belle Avery (“Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead”) and Colin Wilson (“Suicide Squad,” “Avatar”) are producing the film, with Wayne Wei Jiang, Randy Greenberg, Barrie M. Osborne and Gerald R. Molen serving as executive producers.
Turteltaub’s behind-the-scenes team includes Oscar-nominated director of photography Tom Stern (“Changeling,” “Sully,” “American Sniper,” “The Hunger Games”), Oscar-winning production designer Grant Major (“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” “X-Men- Apocalypse”), editor Steven Kemper (“Salt,” “Mission: Impossible II,” “Face/Off”) and costume designer Amanda Neale (“Truth,” “Pete’s Dragon,” “What We Do in the Shadows”).
In addition to New Zealand, filming on “Meg” is also being accomplished on location in China.
“Meg” is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures and Gravity Pictures. It is production of di Bonaventura Pictures, Apelles Entertainment, Maeday Productions, Inc., and Flagship Entertainment, in association with Beijing Digital Impression (BDI) Film, Inc.
“Meg” will be distributed in China by Gravity Pictures during Chinese New Year 2018, and throughout the rest of the world by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Entertainment Company, slated for release on March 2, 2018.
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