Transformers and Resident Evil alum Li Bingbing is reportedly nearing a deal to join Meg, the giant shark pic that’s bubbled to the surface over at Warner Bros.
First reported by Variety, news of Li circling a part comes to us soon after Fan Bingbing was forced to bow out of the maritime thriller due to scheduling conflicts. Aside from that minor setback – which looks to have been rectified as quickly as it came to the fore – Meg is already beginning to shape up rather nicely for WB, boasting a diverse cast that currently comprises Jason Statham, Rainn Wilson, Jessica McNamee and Orange is the New Black stalwart Ruby Rose.
They’ll need all hands on deck, too, for Warner’s white-knuckle ride pits its core group of adventurers against a Carcharodon megalodon – a “70-foot, 40-ton prehistoric cousin of the great white.” Well, we did say it’s a giant shark pic.
Based on Steven Alten’s best-seller Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror, one glance at the novel’s official synopsis reveals a bonkers hybrid of Jurassic Park and Deep Blue Sea, wherein a tech moghul unwittingly unleashes the primordial beast from an underwater observation program. Director Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure) is on board to orchestrate the sure-to-be insane story, with much of the action taking place off the coast of China and the Marianas Trench – the deepest crevice in all seven of the world’s oceans.
Meg has been tentatively slated for release on March 2, 2018.