Will Alten’s prehistoric shark ever swim again?
When Steve Alten’s Meg was optioned by New Line, my initial thought was, “Oh great, a Sci-Fi Original with an inflated budget.” Jan De Bont was to direct, so there was the promise of over-the-top thrills. Then I saw a conceptual image of the shark…and I wanted to see that baby devouring everything in its path.
Alas, that day will never come. The studio Freddy Krueger built has no interest in a giant prehistoric eating machine. An update from Alten at Moviehole is as follows…
MEG MOVIE: Extinct at New Line Cinema
Yes, this is bad news mostly in the wasted two years.
The key execs at New Line always treated MEG like an unwanted stepchild, and now, with my option set to expire in October, the[y] decided NOT to proceed.
In a way this is actually GOOD news. The MEG movie WILL HAPPEN and it is better to wait and do it right with the right team than accept mediocrity. From now until October 30th (the day I officially get MEG back) we’ll be hard at work! Until then, I am restricted from offering details publicly because (technically) New Line still owns the rights to MEG. There are many people at New Line that really did work very hard on MEG and I appreciate their efforts. No bad feelings let’s just move on and work with the right studio that ACTUALLY WANTS TO MAKE A GREAT MOVIE AND OWN A BILLION DOLLAR FRANCHISE.
Source: Ryan Rotten, Moviehole
