Meg 2: The Trench, as the film’s global box office success continues to make (tidal) waves. The film — which sees the return of Statham as shark-fighting marine researcher Jonas Taylor — debut with an underwhelming haul at the domestic box office, making just $30 million during its opening weekend earlier month.
However, in the weeks since its international showings, the Ben Wheatley-directed sequel has gone on to rake in $316 million, $250 million of which came from the international box office alone. For those chowing down the numbers (much like the megalodon itself), the global box office haul s for 7 percent of Meg 2’s total gross, making it an international success story.
Much of this success comes down to the fact that the sequel was a co-production between the United States and the China-based company, CMC Pictures. This opens The Trench up to broader marketing audiences, a feat which was also helped by the casting of Chinese actor Wu Jing in a starring role, with additional Chinese castmates like Li Bingbing.
As a result, almost a third of The Trench’s international haul comes from sales in China ($94.8 million). This makes the sequel only the largely loathed by critics.
Much to everyone’s chagrin, Meg 2’s global box office reapings could mean a third installment of the franchise is on its way, though we thankfully haven’t been burdened with any official news around that just yet. “[There’s] a lot more to explore in that world,” Wheatley teased to Total Film, “the international-ness of it is very interesting.”
Published: Aug 20, 2023 11:09 pm