In today's most linguistically perplexing news, Jon Turteltaub's MEG has lost attached star Fan Bingbing while in final negotations to cast Li Bingbing. Fan left due to scheduling issues, and it's not clear whether Li (who is, in fact, not related) will be replacing her role or playing an entirely different part.
Li Bingbing's biggest American role to date has been in TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION, though she has also appeared in RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION and SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN.
Directed by Jon Turteltaub and based on the 1997 novel by Steve Alten, MEG will center on
an international underwater observation program, led by Chinese scientists, which comes under attack by an unknown danger. With its deep-sea submersible disabled and trapped at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, they need rescue. A former naval captain and expert deep-sea diver is recruited for a likely suicide mission — even though he faced the predator years before and was forced him to abort his mission and abandon half his crew.
MEG will also star Jason Statham, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, and Jessica McNamee.
A co-production of Warner Bros. and China-based Gravity Pictures, MEG will hit theaters on March 2, 2018.