Movies
Ben Wheatley’s ‘The Meg’ Sequel Likely Not Filming Until Next Year
Jason Statham will be back as Jonas Taylor in director Ben Wheatley‘s (Kill List, Sightseers, A Field in England, High-Rise, Rebecca, In the Earth) upcoming sequel to big-budget shark attack horror movie The Meg, but when can we expect to start seeing some photos from the set? Likely not until next year, Statham reveals in a new chat with Collider this week.
Statham, who is expected to have some degree of creative involvement in The Meg 2, told the site, “We’re gonna start shooting in January [2022], if I get my dates right.”
“Ben Wheatley is the director, I’m very excited to work with him. I’m thrilled to get going, it’s been a while. We’ve been waiting around for the right scripts to come in and the right director to turn up, and we’ve got all those things and they’re all stacked up now,” Statham continued. “I think he’s a brilliant director. I think we’ve got a good shot at making something good.”
As you may recall, Statham was bummed that the 2018 movie was ultimately rated PG-13, despite signing on for what he believed to be a much more violent project. It’s hard not to wonder if Statham’s creative involvement in the sequel could help bring some more bloody carnage into the mix, but that’s purely wishful thinking at this time. Stay tuned for more.
The sequel’s script has been written by Dean Georgaris and Jon & Erich Hoeber.
Jon Turteltaub’s The Meg, based on Steve Alten’s Meg novels, was released in theaters back in 2018, devouring over $500 million at the worldwide box office. Jason Statham starred as heroic shark-slayer Jonas Taylor, part of a group of scientists exploring the Mariana Trench who encounter the largest marine predator that has ever existed – the Megalodon.
Movies
‘Backrooms’ Director Kane Parsons Is No Fan of Generative AI: “Defeats the Purpose Entirely for Me”
There has been a lot of talk recently about filmmakers embracing generative AI as part of the filmmaking process, from Darren Aronofsky to Martin Scorsese. But what about filmmakers that are against the use of Gen AI for creative pursuits? You can count 20-year-old Backrooms director Kane Parsons among that group, which should give you some hope for the future.
In a new chat with The Australian, the self-taught young filmmaker makes it crystal clear that he won’t be using generative AI in any of his upcoming filmmaking projects.
“I think I’m in the same boat as most well-adjusted people,” Parsons tells the outlet. “If I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, I probably would. Creatively, I get no enjoyment from using those tools. It defeats the purpose entirely for me.”
“What interests me more is interrogating it artistically,” Parsons notes. “We already live in a world where you walk outside and there are billboards and signs that are obvious AI slop. That’s become part of our visual reality. To me, generative AI feels less like innovation than a symptom of a broader cultural and economic rot.”
He explains, “I’m interested in using that iconography in art – not using AI to make the art itself, but examining what it represents. I definitely want to explore it further in future projects.”
Kane Parsons also notes during the interview with The Australian, “… there’s so much at stake and so many genuinely harmful consequences already happening.”
Backrooms marks young prodigy Kane Parsons’ feature directorial debut, and it’s based on his own series of YouTube videos that were brought to life using Blender, the open-source 3D computer graphics software suite. So it’s no surprise that Parsons, who has hand-made his filmmaking career up to this point, isn’t buying into the hoopla around Generative AI.
His debut feature is the #1 movie in the world, so perhaps he’s onto something.
What’s next from Kane Parsons, you ask? Stay tuned…
You must be logged in to post a comment.