It may not be a critical darling but Meg 2: The Trench is eating up box office receipts like a hungry megalodon.
Thanks to surprisingly strong numbers in China, the mega-shark sequel has now passed the $150 million mark at the worldwide box office. China has contributed over a third of its haul with $53 million.
That’s fairly impressive as the Chinese market has become far less lucrative than it was before the pandemic. For comparison, The Meg made $153 million in China in 2018, contributing a sizeable portion of its eventual $530 million haul worldwide. Meg 2 is a relative anomaly by today’s standards and actually outperformed the first film’s opening there.
Domestically the monster blockbuster has made just $37 million so far, but has faced stiff competition from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and the twin terrors of Barbie and Oppenheimer.
A Bite of the Summer Box Office
Despite underwhelming reviews, a sub-30% Rotten Tomatoes score, and a story and tone with even more distance from the content of Steve Alten’s book series, Meg 2: The Trench is somehow managing to swim against the negative current. Director Ben Wheatley may be known for his offbeat small-scale horrors such as A Field in England and Kill List, but he’s enthusiastic about the film and hasn’t ruled out doing a sequel.
It’s closing in on Insidious: The Red Door and will likely claim the crown as the biggest box office genre movie of 2023 to date in no time. The Insidious sequel only just toppled M3GAN by passing $182 million after a month at cinemas.
Meg 2: The Trench is still in theaters.
