Meg 2: The Trench

Meg 2: The Trench is a 2023 science fiction action film directed by Ben Wheatley (Kill List, Free Fire) from a screenplay by Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, and Dean Georgaris, based on the 1999 novel The Trench: Meg 2 by Steve Alten. Serving as the sequel to The Meg (2018), the film stars Jason Statham, Wu Jing, Sophia Cai, Page Kennedy, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Skyler Samuels, and Cliff Curtis.

In the plot, a group of scientists must outrun, outsmart and outswim their merciless predators when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival.

Plans for the sequel announced to be early development on October 2018 after the box office success of the first film, Wheatley replaced Jon Turteltaub to attached to be director from the returning script by Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber, and Erich Hoeber, with Alten having completed the screenplay in 2019. Filming began in various locations in Asia and the London place Leavesden Studio on February 2022 with much of the cast joining the same month until May 2022.

Meg 2: The Trench had its world premiere at the Shanghai International Film Festival on June 9, 2023, and is scheduled to be released in the United States on August 4, 2023, by Warner Bros. Pictures. Watch the official trailer below.

Shortcomings

Shortcomings is a 2023 American comedy-drama film directed and produced by Randall Park (actor in The Interview, and WandaVision), from a screenplay by Adrian Tomine, based upon his comic of the same name. It stars Justin H. Min (The Umbrella Academy, Beef), Sherry Cola (Turning Red), Ally Maki (Toy Story 4), Debby Ryan (Jessie), Tavi Gevinson (Enough Said), Sonoya Mizuno (Ex Machina), Jacob Batalon (Spider-Man: No Way Home), and Timothy Simons (Veep).

Ben (Min), a struggling filmmaker, lives in Berkeley, California, with his girlfriend, Miko (Maki), who works for a local Asian American film festival. When he’s not managing an arthouse movie theater as his day job, Ben spends his time obsessing over unavailable blonde women, watching Criterion Collection DVDs, and eating in diners with his best friend Alice (Cola), a queer grad student with a serial dating habit. When Miko moves to New York for an internship, Ben is left to his own devices and begins to explore what he thinks he might want.

It had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2023, and is scheduled to be released on August 4, 2023, by Sony Pictures Classics. Watch the official trailer below.

The Passenger

The Passenger is a 2023 crime drama directed by Carter Smith, from a screenplay by Jack Stanley. The film is executive produced by Jason Blum, Chris McCumber, Jeremy Gold, and Lauren Downey.

Randy (Johnny Berchtold) is perfectly content fading into the background. But when his coworker Benson (Kyle Gallner) goes on a sudden and violent rampage leaving a trail of destruction in his wake, Randy is forced to face his fears and confront his troubled past to survive.

The cast includes Kyle Gallner, Johnny Berchtold, Liza Weil, and Billy Slaughter.

The Passenger is set to debut for rental or purchase VOD on August 4th, courtesy of Paramount Movies. Watch the official trailer below.