EXCLUSIVE: Rainn Wilson has reeled in a lead role opposite Jason Statham and Fan Bingbing in Meg, Warner Bros’ horror-adventure film about a huge shark from another time that wreaks havoc off the coast of present-day China. Wilson will play Jack Morris, a tech billionaire who funds an underwater observation program that unwittingly unleashes the Carcharodon megalodon – a 70-foot, 40-ton prehistoric cousin of the great white.

Jon Turteltaub is directing the adaptation of Steve Alten’s novel, with Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, Belle Avery and Colin Wilson producing. Wei Wayne Jiang, Barrie M. Osborne, Randy Greenberg and Gerald R. Molen are exec producing. Flagship Entertainment and China Media Capital division Gravity Pictures are co-financing with Warner Bros. Dean Georgaris adapted the book, with a rewrite by James Vanderbilt. Meg is set to splash into theaters on March 2, 2018.

Wilson earned three Emmy noms for playing Dwight Schrute on NBC’s The Office and won two SAG Awards for that show’s ensemble. He also earned a SAG trophy in 2004 as part of the cast of HBO’s Six Feet Under. Last year Wilson played the title role on Fox’s cop drama Backstrom. His big-screen credits include The Boy, Rocker and Almost Famous, and upcoming film projects include the comedy Permanent opposite Patricia Arquette. Wilson is repped by UTA, Odenkirk Provissiero and Sloane Offer.