Good new for Pacific Rim fans: two weeks after Guillermo del Toro revealed that he was working on a screenplay with Zak Penn (X2: X-Men United), Legendary Pictures has officially announced that Pacific Rim 2 will be released on April 7, 2017. The film will be preceded by a new animated series set in the Pacific Rim universe that will be produced by del Toro, as well as a continuation of the comic book tie-in series.
“The characters I love will return,” Guillermo del Toro said in a statement at BuzzFeed. “Raleigh, Mako, Newt, Gottlieb and who knows, maybe even Hannibal Chau – but we are taking them into a fresh territory that will display amazing sights and battles. The first film set the stage and now we’re ready to have a blast.”
Related: Guillermo del Toro’s Original Idea for Pacific Rim 2
Although Pacific Rim was considered a box office disappointment in the United States – despite positive reviews and an immediately diehard fanbase – the $190 million film made $411 million worldwide. That’s a respectable but not spectacular profit that many worried would be deemed insufficient to green light Pacific Rim 2. But Legendary Pictures is clearly hoping that the film’s ongoing appeal will spread the word of mouth and lead to a sequel that outgrosses the original. The early April release date was probably chosen to take advantage of the pre-summer blockbuster season, hopefully allowing Pacific Rim 2 to dominate the box office before more big budget action movies clutter up the marketplace, a strategy that led to great success with this year’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which opened on April 4 and has already grossed $711 million worldwide.
As fans of the original, we can’t wait for Pacific Rim 2… but apparently we’ll have to. What do you think?
This Week in Film News – Week Ending 06/27/14
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
This Week in Film News - Week Ending 06/27/14
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