megalodon 2

Meg 2: The T e ch

Meg 2: The T e ch ( i led Sha k 2 i some e i o ies2) is a 2023 scie ce fic io ac io film di ec ed by Be Whea ley a d a sequel o The Meg (2018), based o he 1999 ovel The T e ch by S eve Al e . Jo Hoebe , E ich Hoebe , a d Dea Geo ga is all e u as w i e s f om he fi s film, wi h Jaso S a ham, Sophia Cai, Page Ke edy a d Cliff Cu is ep isi g hei oles alo gside Wu Ji g, Se gio Pe is-Me che a a d Skyle Samuels. Like he p evious film, i follows a g oup of scie is s who mus ou u a d ou swim he i ula megalodo s whe a malevole mi i g ope a io h ea e s hei missio a d fo ces hem i o a high-s akes ba le fo su vival.

Pla s fo he sequel we e a ou ced o be i ea ly developme i Oc obe 2018 af e he box office success of he fi s film. P i cipal pho og aphy bega i Feb ua y 2022 a d las ed u il May, occu i g i va ious loca io s i Asia a d Wa e B os. S udios, Leavesde , i Wa fo d, He fo dshi e, E gla d.

Meg 2: The T e ch had i s p emie e a he Sha ghai I e a io al Film Fes ival o Ju e 9, 2023, a d was eleased i he U i ed S a es o Augus 4, by Wa e B os. Pic u es. The film eceived ge e ally ega ive eviews f om c i ics, bu was a box office success, g ossi g ove $397 millio wo ldwide.

Plo edi

Six yea s af e he eve s of he fi s film, Jo as Taylo has bee i volved i figh i g e vi o me al c imes while helpi g Ma a O e explo e he Ma ia a T e ch, whe e he Megalodo had bee fou d. Followi g he dea h of Jo as' wife Suyi Zha g, he has bee aisi g he ee age daugh e Meiyi g alo gside he u cle a d Suyi 's b o he Jiumi g Zha g. Jiumi g acqui ed his fa he 's compa y alo gside weal hy fi a cie Hilla y D iscoll. Ma a O e has bee s udyi g a 80 f (24 m) female Meg called Haiqi, who was discove ed as a pup a d ai ed by Jiumi g i a ese ve i Hai a .

Jo as a d Jiumi g lead a ou i e subme sible explo a io o he T e ch. Fellow Meg su vivo s DJ a d Mac obse ve hem f om he Ma a O e. The subs a e pu sued by Haiqi, who has escaped cap ivi y; he subs dive h ough he he mocli e o escape, whe e hey e cou e wo much la ge Megs, a massive alpha male a d a be a male, who ma e wi h Haiqi. Jiumi g ealizes ha Haiqi had bee ac i g s a ge because i is ma i g seaso ; she was calli g he o he Megs o ma e. The eam discove s a illegal mi i g ope a io cap ai ed by me ce a y Mo es, who has a ve de a agai s Jo as fo his imp iso me some ime befo e. Mo es' c ew was hi ed by he sec e ly co up D iscoll o use he Ma a O e's access o he T e ch o fa m a e-ea h mi e als ha could ea hem billio s. Mo es kills his c ew i a explosio o cove up hei ac ivi ies, which causes a up u e i he T e ch a d g ou ds he eam's ships.

DJ, Mac, a d Ma a O e a alys Jess discove ha he escue pod has bee sabo aged, fo ci g he c ew o use exosui s o walk owa d Mo es' s a io , wi h o ly fou of hem su vivi g he jou ey. Jess eveals he self as a ai o a d a emp s o emo ely kill he fou , bu hey escape i a subme sible. As he c ew su faces, hey discove ha he up u e f om ea lie has caused seve al T e ch c ea u es, i cludi g he h ee Megs, liza d-like c ea u es k ow as S appe s a d a gia oc opus o escape o he su face.

Jess is devou ed by a Meg. Jo as’ eam escapes o a ea by eso , Fu Isla d. D iscoll, Mo es, a d he me ce a ies a ive a Fu Isla d o kill Jo as' c ew, bu a e a acked by he S appe s, who devou D iscoll. Jo as' g oup spli s o evacua e he ou is s as he Megs a d he oc opus a ack. Jo as kills he be a male Meg befo e bei g a acked by Mo es. He k ocks Mo es i o he mou h of he alpha Meg o be ea e . Jiumi g c ea es a bomb ou of fe ilize a d akes ove D iscoll's helicop e wi h Mac.

The oc opus akes dow he helicop e a d Jiumi g i ju es i wi h his bomb, a ac i g Haiqi, who kills he oc opus. Jo as uses o e of he helicop e 's o o s o fa ally impale he alpha Meg. Haiqi heads owa ds Jo as, Jiumi g, a d Mac, bu Jiumi g uses his ai i g sig als o edi ec he o a pod of dolphi s. As hey se le o he beach, Jiumi g me io s he possibili y ha Haiqi is p eg a . The g oup celeb a es hei su vival.

Cas edi

P oduc io edi

Developme edi

I Ap il 2018, Jaso S a ham said a sequel o The Meg (2018) would happe if he film did well wi h he public, sayi g: I hi k i 's like a y hi g i his day a d age – if i makes mo ey, he e's obviously a appe i e o make mo e mo ey. A d if i does ' do well, hey'll soo sweep i u de he ca pe --bu ha 's he way Hollywood wo ks.9 I Augus 2018, S eve Al e said: My feeli g has always bee ha his is a billio dolla f a chise if i was do e igh . Bu o be do e igh you had o ge he sha k igh , ge he cas igh , ge he o e igh . A d Wa e B os. have ailed i comple ely. The p oduce s have ailed i .10 I Oc obe 2018, execu ive p oduce Ca he i e Xuju Yi g a ou ced a sequel was i he ea ly s ages of developme .11

P e-p oduc io edi

I Ma ch 2019, i was a ou ced ha a sc ip fo he film was i he wo ks, wi h sc ee w i e s Dea Geo ga is, a d Jo a d E ich Hoebe e u i g.1213 I his Sep embe 2020 ewsle e , Al e co fi med he sc ip , i led Meg 2: The T e ch, o be comple e, a d exp essed i e es i i s da k o e.14 I Oc obe 2020, Be Whea ley was a ou ced o di ec .1516

Filmi gedi

I Ap il 2021, S a ham said filmi g was se o begi i Ja ua y 2022.17 Filmi g comme ced as pla ed a he e d of Ja ua y a he Wa e -ow ed Leavesde S udios ou side Lo do , wi h p i cipal pho og aphy s a i g o Feb ua y 4, 2022.18 I co i ued he e u il May befo e swi chi g o ou doo loca io s, p esumably i Asia. While he p oduc io was o goi g, Sie a Guillo y, Skyle Samuels, Se gio Pe is-Me che a, a d Wu Ji g we e a ou ced as pa of he cas .18

Pos -p oduc io edi

DNEG, Sca li e VFX a d Milk VFX p ovided he visual effec s fo he sequel (wi h DNEG also ha dli g he 3D co ve sio ). Pe e Bebb a d Gavi Rou d se ved as p oduc io visual effec s supe viso a d p oduc io visual effec s p oduce espec ively.

Musicedi

Ha y G egso -Williams composed he sco e fo he sequel, e u i g f om he fi s film.19 Wa e Towe Music eleased a sco e album o July 28, i addi io o he Ba kay Ojo's emix ve sio of Page Ke edy's so g Chomp.20

T ack lis i gedi

All music is composed by Ha y G egso -Williams

21

Releaseedi

Meg 2: The T e ch was eleased by Wa e B os. Pic u es i he U i ed S a es o Augus 4, 2023.7 The film had i s wo ld p emie e a he Sha ghai I e a io al Film Fes ival o Ju e 9, 2023.22

Home mediaedi

Meg 2: The T e ch was eleased o digi al dow load o Augus 25, 2023, o he s eami g se vice Max o Sep embe 29, a d was eleased o Ul a HD Blu- ay, Blu- ay a d DVD o Oc obe 24, 2023 by Wa e B os. Home E e ai me .23

Recep io edi

Box officeedi

Meg 2: The T e ch g ossed $82.6 millio i he U i ed S a es a d Ca ada, a d $315.1 millio i o he e i o ies, fo a wo ldwide o al of $397.7 millio .45

I he U i ed S a es a d Ca ada, Meg 2: The T e ch was p ojec ed o g oss $20–30 millio f om 3,503 hea e s i i s ope i g weeke d.2 I made $12 millio o i s fi s day, i cludi g $3.2 millio f om Thu sday igh p eviews. I we o o debu o $30 millio , fi ishi g seco d behi d holdove Ba bie.324 The film made $12.8 millio a d $6.7 millio i i s seco d a d hi d weeke ds, fi ishi g i fou h a d six h, espec ively.2526

C i ical espo seedi

O he eview agg ega o websi e Ro e Toma oes, 27% of 182 c i ics' eviews a e posi ive, wi h a ave age a i g of 4.510. The websi e's co se sus eads: I is ' wi hou i s fu mome s, bu Meg 2: The T e ch suffe s f om a disjoi ed s o y ha d if s fo oo lo g befo e fi ally delive i g a few campy h ills.27 Me ac i ic, which uses a weigh ed ave age, assig ed he film a sco e of 40 ou of 100, based o 38 c i ics, i dica i g mixed o ave age eviews.28 Audie ces su veyed by Ci emaSco e gave he film a ave age g ade of B– o a A o F scale, while hose polled a Pos T ak gave i a 72% ove all posi ive sco e, wi h 55% sayi g hey would defi i ely ecomme d he film.24

I a ega ive eview, Roge Ebe .com's B ia Talle ico gave o e ou of fou s a s, a d w o e, A leas u il he fi al half-hou , whe he’s fi ally f ee o u leash some mo s ous chaos, his is o e of he dulles films of he yea , a ploddi g, poo ly made gia sha k movie ha i explicably le s he gia sha k ake a backsea o a evil u de wa e d illi g ope a io .29

Richa d Lawso w o e i Va i y Fai : Meg 2 is co fide i i s schlock, pili g o o e idiculous co cei af e a o he a such a pace ha he audie ce ca ’ help bu be swep up i i . Tha is a ha de eedle o h ead ha ma y filmmake s seem o hi k — i ’s o e ough o jus be s upid.30

Accoladesedi

A he 44 h Golde Raspbe y Awa ds, he film was omi a ed fo Wo s Pic u e, Wo s Ac o fo S a ham a d Wo s Di ec o fo Whea ley.31

Fu u eedi

I July 2023, Whea ley s a ed he e had bee i e al discussio s abou a po e ial hi d i s allme . While i s developme depe ds o he success of The T e ch, he hopes o co i ue he s o y as ou li ed i he ovels by S eve Al e .32