Jason Statham has been signed on to play the lead role in the Warner Bros. film Meg, which sees the action hero battle it out with a giant prehistoric shark.

The film, which is an adaptation of Steve Alten's 1997 novel Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror, will be directed by Jon Turbeltaub of National Treasure fame. Belle Avery will oversee the film's production on behalf of Apelles Entertainment along with Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Maeday Productions' Colin Wilson.

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Gerald Molen, Wayne Wei Jiang and Randy Greenberg will serve as executive producers on the project, which will be co-produced and co-financed by China's Gravity Pictures.

In the film, Statham's character will attempt to take down one of the largest and most powerful predators in history, a prehistoric 70-foot, 40-ton Megalodon shark that devours anyone and anything in its path as it invades the coast of California. 

However, the location of the film has been moved from California to China, a move that enabled the studio to bring in Gravity Pictures as a co-financier.

The project has been in the pipeline for more than two decades. Eli Roth was originally linked to the film as the director, but the project was overhauled with the arrival of Turteltaub. Jamie Vanderbilt penned the film's script, which is based on Dean Georgaris' original draft.

Statham has garnered a reputation of an action hero and is best known for his roles in films like The Expendables and The Transporter series, Snatch, and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. He recently starred in the comedy Spy and played a villain in the action-packed Furious 7 alongside Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson. He is set to reprise his role in the upcoming Fast 8.

TagsJason Statham, Meg, Jason Statham shark, china, Jason Statham shark movie, shark movie, Megalodon shark