MEG To Use CG Shark, Director Eli Roth Explains Why
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- September 22, 2015
- Danny F. Santos
After years in development hell, Steve Alten’s book MEG: A Novel of Deep Terror is finally being adapted to the big screen. On top of that, indie low budget horror maven Eli Roth is finally being given the chance to direct a big budget studio adaptation.
While Roth is known for his practical effects-laden horror films, it seems like he’ll be using CG to bring the 60-foot long Megalodon shark to the big screen. In an interview with Collider, here’s what he said:
We just turned in the script to the studio and I’m designing the artwork now. I’m doing some character and creature designs. It’s so much fun. I cannot wait.[…]
The thing is with Meg, the size of the creature, it sort of becomes impractical to do it practically, but I’ve seen how they’ve done the whale in In the Heart of the Sea. They showed me footage and they’re like, ‘Before you judge CG, take a look at this,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ The whale in In the Heart of the Sea looks so good. I was like, ‘All right, we’re good.’ I wouldn’t do the movie unless I believed the technology was there to do it and the great thing is with Warner Bros and the team that we’re doing [it] with, we’re gonna have the resources to do it right.
The whale In Heart of the Sea does look spectacular but it also still looks CG (see the trailer at the end of the article). I don’t really see anyway to create a70-foot-long, 60,000 lb. animatronic shark, so I’m not surprised they’re going this route, and it’s a more economical way to create the monster.
Personally, I think a mix of a live action animatronic puppet enhanced with CG is the best way to go with any creature, which should get as realistic a look. But I also know it’s not the most practical. And who knows, maybe this will be the film to create the first super-realistic shark.
Warner Bros. hasn’t set a premiere date for MEG yet, other than likely 2017, but it does sound like Roth is keen to direct it soon.
Find out more about Steve Alten and the MEG books, and more, at his website. Here's an interview our sister site doddleNEWS did with Alten. You can check out the Collider interview below:
Here is the trailer for In the Heart of the Sea:
Image: Steve Alten
