One movie that has been lurking in pre-production hell for the past few years is MEG, a tale about a prehistoric shark that is f*cking huge and of course tears apart people, boats, and planes while on it’s way to a lovely sunny afternoon swim. The film was licensed by New Line, and finally, after all this time, New Line has pulled the plug.
Author of the novel “MEG,” writer Steve Altan posted this on his newsletter:
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.
The man sounds pretty determined, and who can blame him. After seeing names like Patrick Stewart and Jan De Bont being floated around and eventually attached, I would be freakin’ disappointed too. But let’s hope this thing eventually gets made, otherwise a very eager fan that I know will continue to talk my ear off every time he remembers he read the book.