Jaws On ‘Roids: The Gargantuan Shark Movie MEG Is Moving Foward…Again
“Tonight, we’ll grill some tuna, have a lil’ vino, somekissy kissy, it’ll be great!”
In my opinion,MEGhas maintained dibbs on “Award for Best Boner Shorts Concept Art” for a few years running. The 80-foot prehistoric pissed off shark movie–think death metal toJaws’s hep jazz–needs to happen no matter what. Recently,The L.A. Timespublished an update about the feature adaptation of authorSteve Alten’s 1997 page turner, that also rewindsMEG’s stint in Hollywood production hell.
The good? We still have the concept art. The pretty good? The film has a solid new financier,Appelles Publishing Inc.in Virginia, with three producers, includingWatchmenproducersLloyd LevinandLawrence Gordon, now riding the wave (the one with the 70,000 pound shark in it). This may finally happen! The bad? It’sMEG,a pricey fever dream even for an American blockbuster. The ugly? The fourthMEGbook (due this summer) is entitledMEG: Hell’s Aquarium. (What would Peter Benchley say?)
You might recall that earlier this decade, director Jan de Bont (Speed,Speed 2: Jason Patrick) was close to steering the film into reality for New Line. Producers at the time included Guillermo del Toro and CHUD.com’s Nick Nunziata. In a funny tidbit from theLATarticle,MEG’s creator, Alten, who sees this as a “billion dollar film franchise,” laughs remembering that one rejected script “stuck wings on the shark.” Somebody please email me that concept art! That is more friggin' ‘tarded than Spinal Tap’sShark Sandwich. Are we talking fairy wings or dragon wings?
Discuss: Do you believe inMEG? Who should directMEG? What shouldMEG 4be subtitled? Wings or no wings? Would you seeMEGif Uwe Boll directed it? Michael Bay? Jason Reitman?
