The film, which is currently being shot, co-stars Li Bingbing

Chinese audiences will be the first to receive commercial screenings of Meg, a shark thriller film starring Jason Statham and Li Bingbing.

The parent companies behind the film, Warner Brothers Pictures and China’s Gravity Pictures, said that the film will be released during the 2018 Chinese New Year period in China. The national week-long annual holiday begins on Friday 16 February 2018, which is two weeks ahead of the film’s previously announced release date of 2 March 2018, which is when the film will be released in the rest of the world.

Photography for the shark thriller is currently taking place in New Zealand. Shooting will also take place in China.

The film will be directed by Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure, Last Vegas). The screenplay is written by Dean Georgaris and Jon Hoeber & Erich Hoeber, based on the New York Times best-selling book by Steve Alten.

The thriller is produced by di Bonaventura Pictures, Apelles Entertainment, Maeday Productions, Inc., and Flagship Entertainment, in association with Beijing Digital Impression (BDI) Film. Flagship Entertainment is the Beijing-based Hong Kong-domiciled production joint venture between Warner, China Media Capital and Hong Kong’s Television Broadcasts (TVB.) Gravity Pictures is a China Media Capital subsidiary.

The plot of Meg revolves around a deep-sea submersible which is attacked by an underwater create that was previously thought to be extinct. The damaged and disabled vessel lies at the bottom of the deepest trench in the Pacific Ocean with its crew trapped inside.

The story involves a deep-sea submersible attacked by a massive creature, previously thought to be extinct. The vessel lies disabled at the bottom of the deepest trench in the Pacific with its crew trapped inside.

As well as Jason Statham and Li Bingbing, the cast also includes Winston Chao (Skiptrace, Kabali) and Masi Oka (Hawaii Five-O, Heroes).