Meg 2: Wu Jing joins the cast, Li Bingbing not returning

Just yesterday, we heard that Sienna Guillory (Resident Evil: Apocalypse), Skyler Samuels (The Gifted), Sergio Peris-Mencheta (Rambo: Last Blood) are joining Jason Statham and his returning co-stars Cliff Curtis, Shuya Sophia Cai, and Page Kennedy in Meg 2: The Trench, director Ben Wheatley’s sequel to Jon Turteltaub’s 2018 “Statham vs. a giant shark” movie The Meg (watch it at THIS LINK). Now Variety brings word that martial artist turned action hero Wu Jing, who is known as the “Rambo of China” and happens to be the highest-grossing male actor of all time in China, is also in the cast.

Variety also confirmed that Li Bingbing will not be reprising the role of oceanographer Suyin in the sequel. She had been rumored to be involved with Meg 2 and it would have made sense for her to show up, since Shuya Sophia Cai’s character Meiying is the young daughter of Suyin, but it’s not to be.

The screenplay for Meg 2: The Trench has been written by Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber, and Erich Hoeber, the same writing team that was on the first film. These films are inspired by a series of novels written by Steve Alten.

Wheatley told Collider last year that he chose to direct Meg 2 because he “really loved” the first film.

I usually just go with my gut, so if something comes across from my agent and I like it, then I just go for it. So this came up and I just went, ‘Oh, Christ! Meg 2, I’ll do that! That’s brilliant!’ 

Speaking with ComicBook.com, Wheatley said he was also interested in the project because 

it’s an opportunity to do action on such an insanely large scale, that it’s just unbelievable. From doing Free Fire, which was, I thought, was all my Christmases came at once in terms of action, this is just unbelievable. And just doing the storyboards for it, just thinking and going, ‘Oh,’ it’s just … I feel a heavy responsibility for it, to make sure that it kind of delivers to all the big shark fans out there.”

Wu Jing’s previous credits include SPL, Invisible Target, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The Wandering Earth, Wolf Warrior and Wolf Warrior II, The Battle at Lake Changjin and its sequel, and My People, My Country and My Country, My Parents.