Jason Statham was very excited to get to fight the world’s biggest shark in ‘The Meg’.
The 50-year-old actor plays the boss of an underwater research facility that discovers a lost kingdom of believed-to-be-extinct creatures, including the giant megalodon shark, have flourished and he doesn’t think there could be a better project to be a part of.
Speaking to Empire magazine, he said: "I mean, who doesn’t want to watch a movie about the biggest shark that’s ever existed? And I get to be in it? This is as good as it gets."
But Jason wouldn’t reveal if the movie will see him come to blows with the shark.
He laughed: "Fisticuffs with the megalodon? I can’t tell you that. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen."
The British actor – who is engaged to model-and-actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley – particularly enjoyed working with Jon Turteltaub because the director kept the set fun.
Jason said:" He’s a card. In a way, it reminds me of making ‘Lock, Stock…’ with Guy Ritchie.
"The money is different, obviously, but things are structured in ways that are more similar that you might thing. But more like Guy, all Jon does is crack jokes and trivialise his ability. He goofs around all the time, keeps things relaxed – but he has this amazing technical ability.
"He knows what he’s doing alright."
Meanwhile, the director admitted it was hard to get the "tone" of the movie – which also stars Rainn Wilson and Ruby Rose – right to prevent it straying into a spoof.
He said: "We know what you think when you hear ‘giant shark movie’ and the movie does as well.
"It’s not that we’re dismissive of it – we’re not making a B movie like ‘Supershark Versus Enormo-Turtle’ – but we’re not taking ourselves too seriously. Tone is one of the hardest things in films – we’r enot making a horror but we’re not making a spoof either. This is an adventure film that happens to have a giant shark in it. We’ve done the work in creating a credible world with some of the finest artists in the business and we’ve assembled a very fine cast from all over the world but I have to remind you, this is a giant shark movie."
Jason Statham hungry for shark fight in The Meg
