Exploring the Filming Locations of Meg 2: The Trench

Introduction

Following the events of the first movie, Meg 2: The Trench followed a similar premise, featuring the appearance of creatures once thought to be extinct — megalodons. As teased at the end of The Meg, the sequel, directed by Ben Wheatley, revealed that more than one megalodon escaped the Mariana Trench, which meant that Jason Statham's action hero, Jonas Taylor, was forced to come face to face with the gigantic beasts once again after killing one in the first film. Unfortunately, this time, Jonas and his team had to take on more than one megalodon, meaning that principal photography was extensive and took place in numerous locations.

Jason Statham in The Meg 2

The Meg 2: The Trench cast (which included Statham as Jonas, Wu Jing as Jiuming Zhang, Sophia Cai as Meiying, Page Kennedy as DJ, Sergio Peris-Mencheta as Montes, Skyler Samuels as Jess, and Cliff Curtis as Mac) and crew used their budget of $129 million to $139 million to shoot scenes in multiple locations around the world. Filming began in February 2022 and was completed sometime after May of the same year, and Meg 2: The Trench premiered more than a year later, on August 4, 2023. The movie relied heavily on special effects, which meant that many sequences were captured in studios (even though a lot occurred on location, as well).

Meg 2 Sal Death Kiran Sonia Sawar

Warner Bros. Studios, Watford, Hertfordshire, England

According to The Cinemaholic, most of the principal photography of Meg 2: The Trench occurred at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, located in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. The 200-acre studio complex is home to two large water tanks, which the cast and crew of The Meg sequel took advantage of (among other amenities that the studio space has to offer) during filming. Numerous large-scale productions have been filmed at the Leavesden branch of Warner Bros. Studios, including GoldenEye (which put the complex on the map), Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Sherlock Holmes, the Harry Potter film series, The Dark Knight, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Barbie, and many others.

Jason Statham in the water in Meg 2 The Trench

Global Locations: Hong Kong, China and Phuket, Thailand

Much of the production of Meg 2: The Trench occurred in studios, but some scenes required the team to travel to other locations to capture the story, like Hong Kong. When not in the water, some scenes in the sequel take place in China, which is why Hong Kong was picked as a filming spot. Variety reported that Hainan, Shanghai, and Qingdao were additional locations in China where units shot some footage for the 2023 science fiction action movie.

Jason Statham in a Submarine in Meg 2 The Trench

A large portion of filming for the final act of Meg 2: The Trench occurred in Phuket, Thailand — a southern province of Thailand that is home to the country's largest island (appropriately named Phuket) and many other smaller islands, which made it the perfect filming location for the movie's ending. The scenes at the fictional resort of Fun Island, where the terrifying creatures attack Jonas's team, the mercenaries, and the tourists, were captured on the beaches of Phuket.

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Los Angeles, California

The final filming location for the 2023 science fiction action movie is the county of Los Angeles in California. As mentioned above, the cast and crew had to rely heavily on production studios to capture some ambitious scenes in the project. So, they traveled to the Burbank branch of Warner Bros. Studios, where they reportedly performed a portion of the principal photography.

Meg 2 Jonas Taylor and Meiying

Like the one in Leavesden, England, the studio in Burbank contains a water tank and various other stages that the production team used to shoot some sequences. It sounds as if the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Leavesden did not have all the components needed for the script, which is why the one in Burbank, California, was used to complete the movie. Aside from Meg 2: The Trench, other projects that were filmed at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank are The Goonies, The Perfect Storm, La La Land, Dunkirk, Blade Runner, The Dark Knight, Spider-Man, and countless more.

Jason Statham riding a jet ski on The Meg 2 poster