Jason Statham to Fight Giant Prehistoric Shark in Aquatic Thriller Meg

Expendables star Jason Statham has faced a wide variety of enemies in his career, but the actor will soon take on his biggest, scariest adversary to date. It has been reported that Statham has signed on to topline the long-in-development giant shark thriller Meg.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Statham will star in the monster movie, which is to be directed by Jon Turteltaub, best known for the National Treasure films. Turteltaub signed on to direct last month, after Hostel filmmaker Eli Roth exited the project.

The film is based on the 1997 novel Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror, written by Steve Alten. It was the first of a series of books focusing upon the adventures Navy deep sea diver Jonas Taylor, the role which former Olympic diver Statham is expected to play.

Development on a film adaptation of Meg began in 1997, and has moved between studios ever since, with directors such as Jan De Bont and Guillermo Del Toro attached at various stages. The rights reverted back to Alten in 2007, but until now the cost of the production has proved prohibitive for many potentially interested studios.

The film will be a co-production between Warner and Chinese company Gravity, and reportedly the location of the story will now change from the Mariana Islands near the Philippines to the coast of China.