Fans of Guillermo Del Toro’s “giant robots punching giant monster’s in the face” epic can take a collective sigh of relief; a sequel to the film has at last been green-lit by Legendary Pictures with a release date set for April 7th 2017.
This is welcome news for those hungry for more Jaeger vs Kaiju action given that the future of the series was uncertain after a poor haul at the domestic box office. Whilst this was eventually counterbalanced by a strong performance in the international market, grossing $114.3 million in China alone, the weak domestic numbers made the potential for a sequel seem unlikely.
It was reported earlier this month that Del Toro was developing a script with Screenwriter Zac Penn (whose credits range from Avenger Assemble to X2) but at the time there was no guarantee that said screenplay would ever find its way onto the screen. However, the director has promised that writer of the first instalment, Travis Beacham, will have some involvement in the project, although the extent of this involvement is currently unclear.
As well as this, Del Toro, who is currently working on horror movie Crimson Peak where he is busy as writer, director and producer, also insisted that the core characters from the first film will return whilst being taken into “fresh territory”. Whilst the first film’s characters are set to appear, there has been no confirmation as of yet that any of the original cast members will be returning.
Watch the trailer for the first Pacific Rim, released last year, below.
