The film stars Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, Winston Chao, and Cliff Curtis.

A sequel, Meg 2: The Trench, was released in 2023, with Georgaris and the Hoebers returning as writers and Statham, Curtis, Sophia Cai and Page Kennedy reprising their roles.

Jonas Taylor is a rescue diver who attempts to save the crew of a damaged nuclear submarine as the hull is being rammed by an unidentified creature.

Five years later, billionaire Jack Morris meets Dr. Minway Zhang at the underwater research facility Mana One.

Zhang and his oceanographer daughter Suyin supervise a mission to explore a deeper section of the Mariana Trench, previously concealed by a thermocline of hydrogen sulfide.

When they realize the meg pursued them past the thermacline, they resolve to kill it, knowing modern humans are unequipped to deal with such an ancient creature.

After Jonas marks it with a tracker, Suyin enters a shark-proof tank to shoot the meg with poison, which successfully kills the creature.

It critically wounds Dr. Minway Zhang and Dr. Heller sacrifices himself to save a fellow crewmember as the ship capsizes and sinks.

Back at the station, Morris claims that he has informed all neighboring governments about the Meg, and has sent destroyers to torpedo the shark.

[4] In 2005, reports surfaced that the project was being developed by New Line Cinema, with an estimated budget of $75 million and a slated release of summer 2006.

[6] Names attached to the production included Jan de Bont as director, Guillermo del Toro as producer, and Shane Salerno as a screenwriter.

[11] It was considered a full co-production under Chinese regulations, and it was not subject to the same quota system and revenue sharing agreements usually applied to imported films.

[19] Warner and Gravity then said that the film would be released during the 2018 Chinese New Year period in China, a week-long annual holiday on February 16, 2018.

[3] It went on to debut at $45.4 million, topping the box office and marking the best solo opening of Statham's career, as well as Turteltaub's.

The site's critics consensus reads, "The Meg sets audiences up for a good old-fashioned B-movie creature feature, but lacks the genre thrills—or the cheesy bite—to make it worth diving in.

"[30] Scott Mendelson of Forbes was impressed by the film's special effects and called it "a polished B movie that delivers the goods.

[32] Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Simon Abrams said the film was "refreshingly unpretentious" and "a breath of fresh air" compared with the Sharknado series.

[36][37] It was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award in Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off, or Sequel (as a ripoff of Jaws).

[42] In his September 2020 newsletter, Steve Alten confirmed the script, titled Meg 2: The Trench, was complete, and expressed interest in its "dark" tone.