Eli Roth drops Meg, National Treasure’s Jon Turteltaub may replace him

Last we heard, Eli Roth was all set to direct the feature film adaptation of Steve Alten's "Meg", but it seems like the long-delayed project has undergone yet another snag. Deadline reports that Eli Roth has departed the project, but that Jon Turteltaub (NATIONAL TREASURE) is currently circling MEG with the intention to direct.

There's no clear explanation as to why Eli Roth dropped out of MEG as he seemed fairly pumped about it last year, but Variety mentions that rumours were circling that MEG's budget was spiraling out of control, upwards of $100 million, and the studio was looking for a way to scale back the film, including rewriting the script. Variety mentions that Roth likely dropped out due to those concerns. The latest script for MEG was penned by Dean Georgaris (LARA CROFT TOMB RAIDER: THE CRADLE OF LIFE).

A synopsis for "Meg" via Amazon:

Years ago, on a top-secret dive seven miles down into the Mariana Trench, Jonas came face to face with an ancient monster everyone believed extinct. Having barely escaped with his life, Jonas must prove to the world that Meg still exists. When an opportunity to return to the trench presents itself, he takes it, intent on returning topside with a 7-inch tooth! But man s presence in this unexplored domain releases one of the sharks from its purgatory, and now Jonas is the only one who can stop it.

Even though I wouldn't count Eli Roth among my favourite filmmakers, the thought of him taking on a big-budget giant shark movie with all the grisly bits intact was rather appealing. Should Jon Turteltaub take on the director's chair, I suppose there's always the chance that we'd get Nicolas Cage yelling at a 60-foot Megalodon? Speaking of Turteltaub's NATIONAL TREASURE franchise, Bob Iger confirmed that a third film was still in development but was not yet green-lit at a recent Disney shareholders meeting.