"The Meg" Was Made After 20 Years Thanks to Online Fandom

The jumped-up version of Jaws that is The Meg had a long road to its premiere this summer, and super fans are to blame—or thank, depending on your perspective. Wired reports that after movie rights to Steve Alten’s bestselling monster shark were optioned in 1996, development stalled, leaving him with few options at the time to see his work onscreen.

As his presence grew online, rights for the story reverted to Alten and he decided to use his and the novel’s popularity among hardcore fans known as “the MEGheads” to try and get his story to the big screen.

While the movie wasn’t right in a post-9/11 environment — audiences didn’t want much to do with disaster or monster-based thrillers — continued online discussion eventually led to further interest from Hollywood culminating in the Jason Statham film that premieres August 10.

Wired reports that speaking of the long and difficult road the movie traveled to production, Alten simply said, “Maybe it’s fate.”