Jason Statham swam with real sharks in preparation for The Meg

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Of course he did. Of course Jason Statham went swimming with real sharks in preparation for THE MEG, because…what else could he do? If he hadn't gone swimming with sharks, well then, all believability for this giant shark movie would just be lost in the wind. In THE MEG, Statham plays Jonas Taylor, an expert deep sea rescue diver who is tasked with rescuing the crew of a deep-sea submersible after it was attacked by a pre-historic 75-foot-long shark known as the Megalodon.

Prior to shooting the Jon Turteltaub film, Jason Statham told Entertainment Weekly that he took a trip to Fiji and went diving with bull sharks.

On the early stages of the prep, we took a trip to Fiji, and we went diving with some bull sharks. They hand-feed them and it’s a spectacular thing to see. These things are three meters in length, huge big things. There were 20 or 30 of these things, and they were hand-feeding [them] big tuna heads, and we got very, very close, and it was a spectacular moment. To swim in close proximity to a big, three-meter shark, is to be recommended to all and everyone.

I can't imagine that you'd expect Jason Statham to be scared by that experience, but the actor did admit to a little anxiety as the big moment got closer, but once he actually got in the ocean, all the anxiety went away completely. "You get very relaxed, and when you’re in their environment, it’s quite a tranquil sort of thing," Statham said. "It’s remarkable to experience. All of the fear — or the perceived fear — is done in your own head before you get down there with them. Once you’re swimming down there with all the other divers, it’s phenomenal. It’s one of the greatest experiences you could have, for me anyway. I’m a big SCUBA diver fanatic. Wherever I am in the world, if I get a chance to get in the ocean, I do." Entertainment Weekly also debuted a new image from THE MEG, which showcases the pre-historic beastie having a dip with some tasty friends.

With the release date of THE MEG quickly approaching, you may be wondering when we might see the first trailer for the film. Well, Meg author Steve Alten took to Facebook recently to assure fans that a trailer is indeed on the way. Alten said that he's already seen two "excellent" trailers for THE MEG, but that the powers-that-be decided to delay their launch until April. We don't know exactly when those trailers will surface, but we'll have them up for you once they hit.

The official synopsis for THE MEG:

In the film, a deep-sea submersible—part of an international undersea observation program—has been attacked by a massive creature, previously thought to be extinct, and now lies disabled at the bottom of the deepest trench in the Pacific…with its crew trapped inside. With time running out, expert deep sea rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) is recruited by a visionary Chinese oceanographer (Winston Chao), against the wishes of his daughter Suyin (Li Bingbing), to save the crew—and the ocean itself—from this unstoppable threat: a pre-historic 75-foot-long shark known as the Megalodon. What no one could have imagined is that, years before, Taylor had encountered this same terrifying creature. Now, teamed with Suyin, he must confront his fears and risk his own life to save everyone trapped below…bringing him face to face once more with the greatest and largest predator of all time.

THE MEG will hit theaters on August 10, 2018.