After spending many years dominating the independent, low budget horror realm, Eli Roth is finally getting the opportunity to tackle a big studio film. Back in June, news broke that Roth was set to direct Meg for Warner Bros. The movie is based on the Steve Alten novel, MEG: A Novel of Deep Terror, about a megalodon shark that attacks the California coast. Roth's a pro when it comes to capturing blood and guts practically, but when the centerpiece of your movie is a 70-foot, 60,000 pound Great White, you've got to be open to using CGI, too.
While discussing his upcoming releases, The Green Inferno and Knock Knock, during a recent interview with Collider, Roth took a moment to address what he's currently working on for Meg and why another upcoming film made him confident in going digital.
"We just turned in the script to the studio and I'm designing the artwork now. I'm doing some character and creature designs. It's so much fun. I cannot wait."
And here's what Roth had to say about using CG:
"The thing is with Meg, the size of the creature, it sort of becomes impractical to do it practically, but I've seen how they've done the whale in In the Heart of the Sea. They showed me footage and they're like, 'Before you judge CG, take a look at this,' and I was like, 'Oh my god.' The whale in In the Heart of the Sea looks so good. I was like, 'All right, we're good.' I wouldn't do the movie unless I believed the technology was there to do it and the great thing is with Warner Bros and the team that we're doing [it] with, we're gonna have the resources to do it right."
Based on the brief glimpses of the whale we get in the In the Heart of the Sea trailers, it seems as though Roth's assessment is accurate. That's a pretty real looking whale right there. Warner Bros. hasn't set a date for Meg just yet, but clearly Roth is busy prepping so hopefully he'll jump into it soon after wrapping press on Knock Knock and The Green Inferno.
