Rainn Wilson joins Meg; Taylor Kitsch signs up for American Assassin

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

If you've secretly been harbouring a deep dark desire to witness chunks of Rainn Wilson slide down the gullet of a giant shark, you're in luck; Deadline reports that Wilson is set to join the cast of MEG alongside Jason Statham and Fan Bingbing. Wilson will play Jack Morris, a "tech billionaire who funds an underwater observation program that unwittingly unleashes the Carcharodon megalodon – a 70-foot, 40-ton prehistoric cousin of the great white." Just the type to find themselves shark food by the end. The feature-film adaptation of Steve Alten’s novel was originally set to be directed by Eli Roth, but he later dropped out due to undisclosed issues and was replaced by Jon Turteltaub (NATIONAL TREASURE).

While we're talking casting, Taylor Kitsch has just signed up for Michael Custa's AMERICAN ASSASSIN. Per THR, Kitsch will be playing the villain in the upcoming action/thriller based on Vince Flynn's best-selling book series. Dylan O'Brien (THE MAZE RUNNER) stars in AMERICAN ASSASSIN as CIA assassin Mitch Rapp with Michael Keaton (THE FOUNDER) playing Stan Hurley, the badass Cold War veteran who teaches Rapp everything he needs to know. The pair are soon tasked with investigating a series of attacks on both military and civilian targets which then leads them to a "mysterious operative (Taylor Kitsch) intent on starting a World War in the Middle East."

Production on AMERICAN ASSASSIN is expected to get underway in September but the film doesn't have a firm release date nailed down. Meanwhile, MEG is set for a March 2, 2018 release.