In June of 2015, we reported that Eli Roth was boarding the feature film adaptation of Steve Alten’s (pictured above) killer shark tome, Meg. Today we bring you the news that Roth has walked away from the project after previously expressing much enthusiasm for the endeavor.
Deadline has learned that National Treasure director Jon Turteltaub will be Roth’s replacement. I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that Turteltaub was directing from the onset because he is known for helming big budget action films. But he just seems such a strange choice to replace Roth. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say the decision was made because the studio wanted to go in an entirely different direction than Roth. However, the outlet did not give a reason as to why Eli Roth left the project.
I was excited to see what Roth would do with the property. This would have been his first PG-13 rated film and his first time relying heavily on CGI effects.
Turteltaub will direct from a script penned by Belle Avery and Dean Georgaris. Steve Alten’s novel tells the story of two men that band together to face a Megalodon, a creature thought to be long extinct, that surfaces in modern day and wreaks unspeakable havoc everywhere it goes.
Deadline also speculates that Warner Brothers will finally get the project off the ground this time, with the success of films like Jurassic World paving the way. The road to bring Meg to the big screen has been plagued by a series of false starts. In fact, this is a project that has been bounced around to multiple studios and adaptations have been attempted numerous times over the past 20 years.
If Warner Brothers is, in fact, able to make a go of it this time around, the film will likely see a 2017 release. However, there has been no official word on that at this juncture. Stay tuned to the site in the coming months for more on this upcoming project as details roll in!
