Filming on The Meg 2 will begin next week, according to a report from KFTV (via Bloody Disgusting). Production will take place in the UK at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden. Its predecessor, 2018's The Meg, was filmed primarily in Auckland, New Zealand.
The change in filming locations, however, is not the only thing that will be different about the upcoming sequel. The Meg 2 will be directed by Ben Wheatley, who replaces the first film's director, Jon Turteltaub. Wheatley has previously worked on thrillers such as 2011's Kill List. This shift may be indicative of other changes as well. The Meg star Jason Statham, who plays Jonas Taylor, an adventurous paleobiologist who studies the megalodon, a giant and prehistoric shark species, was disappointed with the first film's PG-13 rating. So the shift in director and production location could have portended a shift in the direction that the sequel will take. Fortunately, we can confirm that Statham is returning for the sequel. According to BloodyDisgusting, Jason Statham is said to have more creative control this time around, though any specific shifts in the series are still unknown.
The Meg 2, along with the first film in the series, are based on the Steve Alten sci-fi thriller book series of the same name, which follows Jonas Taylor on his undersea close encounters with prehistoric sharks. The first film in the series, which was released in 2018 and took in over $500 million at the box office, follows Jonas Taylor five years after he encountered a megalodon. After a series of mysterious underwater attacks, Taylor ventures to Mana One, a subaquatic research facility, where he finds that the megalodon has followed.
The Meg 2's full title is Meg 2: The Trench, following the title of Alten's 1999 novel sequel to his 1997 novel, Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror. The upcoming film is written by Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber, and Erich Hoeber, who also wrote the 2018 film. The full cast and plot details for the upcoming film have not yet been released.
No release date has yet been set for the film. The first film in the series, The Meg, is not currently available for streaming. However, it is available to purchase on DVD, Blu-ray, and Digital.