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Histpic This article is a history page
This article contains early or scrapped production information about Legendary Pictures's Pacific Rim, and is intended to work as a history book on the film's development progress.
This article is about the unproduced sequel. You may be looking for the 2018 film.

"From now until April 2017, we're going to develop a new animated series for Pacific Rim, continue the comic book series that started with Year Zero, and most importantly, creating a sequel for the film. I'm working on this with Zak Penn and Travis Beacham. And we are all very happy to be bringing you more Kaijus more Jaegers, kicking each others butts."
—Guillermo del Toro[7]

"Pacific Rim 2" was the sequel to Guillermo del Toro's 2013 science-fiction film, Pacific Rim. With del Toro returning as director, the sequel was scheduled for an April 2017 release.[8][9] del Toro worked on the script with Zak Penn and Travis Beacham.[7] The sequel was intended to expand the universe with two prequels: A comic book series, and an animated series that would lead into the events of the film.

An overcrowded release schedule, saw the sequel pushed to August 2017 by Universal Pictures.[5][4][6] The sequel was rescheduled a second time following financial troubles between Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures[10][11], and in 2016, it was shelved by Universal.[12][13]

Plans for the comic book were also altered, and animated the series was scrapped. Following del Toro's departure from the project as director, the sequel was later reworked into Pacific Rim Uprising.[14][15]

Development

Pre-Production

2013

May 20, 2013, Entertainment Weekly announced that Pacific Rim was set for a sequel prior to the film's release on July 12, 2013.[16] Legendary Pictures announced that the studio hired Travis Beacham to write the script for the sequel. Former CEO of Legendary Entertainment, Thomas Tull asked Guillermo del Toro to start working on a screenplay based on ideas omitted from the original film.[note 1][16]

del Toro would help Beacham write the sequel[16], but it was undetermined if he would direct. Travis Beacham stated that he was given the go-head to write a sequel "a while ago" but had received no word that the production would be greenlit.[17] In an interview with ShockTillYouDrop.com, Thomas Tull confirmed that del Toro and Legendary Pictures were still open to the idea of developing a sequel for Pacific Rim.[18]

2014

During the promotion of The Strain at the Austin Television Festival, del Toro announced that screenwriter Zak Penn was working with him to develop the script for the sequel. At the time of the announcement, Travis Beacham was involved with the FOX television series, Hieroglyph, which was later cancelled before its premiere in the fall of 2014.[19][20]

June 26, 2014, Guillermo del Toro announced on Legendary's YouTube channel that, "Pacific Rim 2" was planned for a April 2017 release.[9][8] In conjunction with writing the script with Zak Penn, he added that Travis Beacham would return as a writer.[7] To promote the pending film, an animated series and additional comic book similar to that of Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero were also greenlit for production.[7]

In an official statement with BuzzFeed.com, del Toro stated, "The characters I love will return. 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."[9][2]

Following his announcement on YouTube[9], Legendary Pictures announced the film's release date on their official twitter[8] and tumblr pages[21][22] for both their company and Pacific Rim. Actor Burn Gorman followed suit, retweeting the news from the Hollywood Reporter[23] with the response, "by Jove".[24]

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, when asked about when production would officially begin for the sequel, del Toro stated that design production for the film would start in August of 2014.[25][note 2] Scouting for locations for the film were expected to take place July 2015 and principal photography November of the same year. del Toro expected to begin advertising the sequel in early 2017.[26]

2015

April 23, 2015, following the announcement of the eighth Fast & Furious sequel and the upcoming sequels to Fifty Shades of Grey[27][5], Universal Pictures released a list of films whose original release dates were changed to accommodate the other franchises. Pacific Rim 2 was officially moved from a April to an August 2017 release.[4][5][6][note 3]

During the 2015 Comic-Con, del Toro reconfirmed that principal photography would begin in November and pre-production was in the third month of the film's design process at the time of the interview.[28]

Screenplay

2013

July 2013, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, del Toro stated that the sequel would be unlike the first and would avoid repeating any elements from the first film. “We have plans that are pretty bold and pretty crazy,” he said. “We would not be repeating anything from the first one. We would go to completely fresh territory.”[29] del Toro revealed in a Long Beach, California Q&A that he was interested in bringing focus to the idea of humans “drifting” with Kaiju.[30][29] "We're writing... and the main idea that we're bouncing off is the fact that Newt drifted with a Kaiju brain and all Kaiju brains were connected".[31]

Another idea posited by del Toro was the focus on the Precursors and the Anteverse and how they could use the information provided by Newton Geiszler against mankind. “They have a hive mentality, meaning that if you ‘drift’ with a Kaiju brain, you are drifting with every Kaiju alive. Depending on the duration of the drift the information might be complete or incomplete, but the Kaiju know everything the human drifts with them knows. That’s as much as I can tell you without spoiling the sequel.”[32][29]

The sequel would also see the possible return of Gipsy Danger and a Kaiju/Jaeger hybrid; "We will have Gipsy 2.0 for sure. Second thing is you're gonna see a merging of Kaiju and Jaeger. And that is quite special."[33] Actress Rinko Kikuchi hinted at the idea of Idris Elba's return to the sequel during a press event in San Francisco.[29]

2014

Prior to the June 26 announcement, del Toro announced that the script was in the process of being written by himself and Zak Penn, but had not been bought for production by Legendary Pictures. “I don’t have the money, but I’m proceeding like it is happening,” he said. del Toro also stated that characters Raleigh Becket and Mako Mori would return and that the story would follow the events after Pacific Rim.[19] He made clear that he was not interested directing a prequel centralized on the "first wave of the invasion", and was focused on introducing "very crazy ideas for the second one".[19]

During the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, when asked whether or not he would be filming in Toronto, del Toro stated that he would be writing the sequel's story to be told on a global scale.[26] "[...]it’s all over the world this time. I want it to be different enough to the first one that you don’t feel you’re seeing the same movie." The film's action sequences would be orchestrated differently from the original film, and take place during both day and night battles.[26]

The journey of Raleigh Becket would be "completely different", as he came full circle with the loss his brother, Yancy Becket, after rescuing his new co-pilot, Mako, at the end of Pacific Rim.[26] del Toro reconfirmed that the sequel would expand on the mythology of the Precursors and the Anteverse and the creation of a "Gipsy Danger 2.0".[26][2] He also added that the sequel would introduce new characters as well.[25] In another interview with Collider.com, del Toro revealed that the setting of the movie would be set "a few years after the first one" and would see the film dealing with a Kaiju free world and the fate of the remaining Jaeger technology.[3][note 4] When promoting Guy Ritchie's King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Charlie Hunnam expressed an interest in seeing a larger focus on character and less attention on special effects.[34]

2015

Del Toro PacRim 2 Korean Jaeger (francisco-ruiz-velasco)-02

Early Pacific Rim 2 concept art of one of the two the Korean Jaegers. Art by Francisco Ruiz Velasco.

When discussing the Jeagers, del Toro stated that four Jaegers had been established during the design process.[35] The Jaegers would hail from China, Russia and Korea, the latter of which was said to have "two robots".[36]

del Toro went on to reconfirm that the Mexican Jaeger mentioned at the 2015 International Film Festival in Guadalajara[37], "Black Maria", was among the Jaegers mentioned in the design process.[36] October 2015, IGN.com reported that del Toro had submitted "a tentative budget and script" to Legendary pictures.[38][39]

2017

In an interview with Collider.com, covering the production of The Shape of Water, Paul Austerberry revealed that the original script for del Toro's Pacific Rim sequel lead the story to Shanghai, and involved a river and desert location for major action sequences. The film would have ended in San Francisco where a major battle between the Kaiju and the Jaeger was meant to take place.[40][note 5]

2018-2019

In a November 2018 discussion about his numerous unproduced scripts on Twitter, del Toro briefly described his script for the sequel as "very different".[41][42][note 6] Travis Beacham discussed early story ideas he worked on with del Toro. He explained that they both were interested in pursuing a storyline that would allow them to explore "the other side of the rift" at later point.[note 7] Beacham also expressed an interest in working on a prequel film for the franchise.[43][44]

2021

During the promotion of Nightmare Alley, del Toro explained one version of the sequel's script involved a tech villain who created an advanced version of the internet under the influence of the Precusors. The story would eventually reveal that the Precursors were humans from thousands of years in the future who created biological exosuits to survive a deveastated Earth.[45][note 8]

“They’re trying to terraform, trying to re-harvest the earth to survive," del Toro explained. "[...]We were inside. And it was a really interesting paradox.” While some elements of the story were preserved in Uprising, the story was radically changed. del Toro considered Mako Mori the hero of Pacific Rim, and stated that she would've been one of the main characters in the sequel.[45][note 9]

Casting

2014-2015

Since its official announcement in 2014, del Toro indirectly stated that the surviving cast of Pacific Rim would return for the sequel by way of reference to the characters and the continuation of the story.[9][1][2] Burn Gorman and Charlie Day were among the first of the original cast officially confirmed to return, with the possibility of larger roles.[3]

During the promotion of Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, Rinko Kikuchi stated in an interview Superhero Hype that she was uncertain that she would be asked to return for the sequel despite del Toro's discussion of narrative.[46] During his appearance at the Television Critics Association, del Toro corrected the media-wide error that Gorman and Day would take over as the sequel's protagonists, and reiterated that he believed most of the cast from the original film would return for the sequel, Charlie Hunnam included.[1][47][47][note 10] During the film's delay, del Toro considered casting Maisie Williams of Game of Thrones for the sequel.[48]

Delays

2015

September 15, 2015, the Latino Review reported that the production of the sequel was delayed until 2016 according to "multiple sources" and would impact the August 2017 release of the film planned at its announcement.[49] Forbes.com speculated the reported delay was Universal Pictures' attempt to avoid clashing with director Christopher Nolan's 2017 feature, Dunkirk[50], produced by Warner Brothers.[51]

Subsequent media outlets began spreading the report, similarly stating that they were unable to get an official comment with Legendary or Universal Pictures.[11] September 16, 2015, The Hollywood Reporter detailed financial troubles and internal strife between Legendary Pictures, Thomas Tull and Universal Pictures. Universal and Legendary Pictures' grievances were presumably over the fact that Tull was taking credit for the success of The Dark Knight and Jurassic World, but ignoring the financial failures of films such as Blackhat.[10]

A source close to Legendary relayed to the Hollywood Reporter that the sequel "has been halted indefinitely and will be pushed back".[10][52][53] Forbes.com writer Scott Mendelson speculated the sequel was postponed by Universal for reasons that the Tron Legacy sequel was canceled: The studio was overburdened with too many upcoming franchises.[54]

Guillermo del Toro addressed the postponement rumors in an Entertainment Weekly interview[55], stating that while the film had been pushed back, the delay was "only temporary". “We are still turning in a screenplay and a budget in three weeks,” del Toro told Entertainment Weekly. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s not gone. We’re still on it.” Additionally he expressed an interest in doing another film before the production of the sequel would go forward.[55][56]

2016

January 7, 2016, reports from Universal that the sequel had been officially shelved began to circulate.[12][13] According to Screencrush.com and the Hollywood Reporter del Toro had been in talks with Universal in an attempt to get the film's production off the ground.[12][13]

However, the director was unable to come to an agreement with the studio and the sequel was officially “off the table”. The reports followed the announcement that del Toro was in the running to direct a remake of the 1966 science fiction film, Fantastic Voyage.[12][13] Following the report, del Toro responded to the news on twitter, "Pac Rim 2 cancelled? Don't believe everything you read. It's still going and I'll remain w it in one way or another!"[57][58]

Videos

Pre-Production Interviews

Gallery

Concept Art

Trivia

  • The working title for the sequel was rumored to be "Pacific Rim: Maelstrom".[59][60][note 11]
  • The Spanish working title for the sequel was "Titanes del Pacífico 2" (Titans of the Pacific 2).[61]
  • When asked whether or not he would return for the Pacific Rim sequel during a AMA on Reddit, Idris Elba was doubtful considering "[his] character died in the first one".[62][63]
  • During an interview promoting Jorge Gutierrez's The Book of Life, Guillermo del Toro suggested that the end of the second film could lead to a third film.[64][65][note 12]
  • During an appearance at the 2015 International Film Festival in Guadalajara, Guillermo del Toro stated that he would make an effort to put more Mexican elements in his films. With regard to the Pacific Rim sequel, he stated he would add a Jaeger named "Black Maria".[note 13][37][61]
  • On his official tumblr page, when asked, Travis Beacham stated he was "not busy with Pacific Rim 2", but would return to work on the production if asked.[66][note 14]

Notes

  1. Entertainment Weekly: "After the first screening, Legendary Entertainment CEO Thomas Tull immediately told del Toro to start writing a follow-up. “He said, ‘Do you think you can come up with a great idea?’ ” del Toro remembers. “I said, ‘F—, yeah!’! Because on the way to the finished screenplay, there were entire angles and ideas that we chopped off because they were too much.”
  2. del Toro: "I start designing in six weeks. It takes me nine months to design a movie like that. People see the movie, and they have to see that we designed everything in the movie, from ID cards or patches, pamphlets, posters, signs, sets. I start with a core team for about six months designing the jaegers and the kaiju, you know, so we know how many kaiju, how many jaegers. We are creating some new jaegers and a lot of new kaiju. We start [designing the production] in August."
  3. @Legendary: "PACIFIC RIM 2, the follow-up to the epic action-adventure Guillermo del Toro created, will be released on Friday, August 4, 2017 #Summer2017"
  4. del Toro: “It’s a few years after the first one. It’s not an immediate follow-up. It is the world having been freed of Kaiju, what happens to the world after – what happens to the Jaeger technology once the Kaiju are not a threat. It’s quite a jump.”
  5. Austerberry: "[...]When we were doing it we were set in Shanghai, that’s why we were scouting in China. We had some scenes in Shanghai and we were using the river and the craziness of Shanghai as our backdrop. [...]We were in the desert because there were scenes in the desert and we went way into the desert to some amazing landscapes to use as part of our background. [...]I think we finished in San Francisco [...], where so many disaster movies take place (laughs). We were gonna destroy it with the great big battle between the kaiju and the big robots, so that was gonna be pretty exciting."
  6. @RealGDT: "1/2 SCREENPLAYS I have developed, fully written or co-written that have gone unproduced (so far): THE WITCHES, JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS, FANTASTIC VOYAGE, THE COUNT OF MONTECRISTO, MEPHISTO'S BRIDGE, PACIFIC RIM 2 (very different),"
  7. Beacham: "I talked to Guillermo about it early on, because there were a ton of crazy ideas for where it could go. We definitely wanted to do a film that took place on the other side of the rift and see what that would be like. I don’t know if you could just jump right in and do that, but maybe after a few movies. Personally, I always really wanted to see a prequel. I’m not big on prequels when it comes to other properties, but I thought it’d be fun to go back and see the first Jaegar and first fight with the Kaiju. I wanted to see what that would’ve looked like from the beginning."
  8. del Toro: “The villain was this tech guy that had invented basically sort of the internet 2.0. And then they realized that all his patents came to him one morning. And so little by little, they started putting together this and they said, ‘Oh, he got them from the precursors.’ The guys that control the kaiju. And then we found out that the precursors are us thousands of years in the future.”
  9. del Toro: “To me, the hero was Mako Mori. I wanted her not only to live, I wanted her to be one of the main characters in the second movie,”
  10. del Toro: “No, no, no, Charlie Day has a great part but so does Charlie Hunnam,” del Toro said to a group of reporters asking followup questions. “I think that everybody or most everybody that survived is back. The rest we killed. We killed half the cast.”
  11. "Global News has learned the working title for the follow-up is Maelstrom."
  12. del Toro: "Some of your favorite characters come back, some others don't because we have decided that we're going to shoot ambitiously and say 'Let's hope we have three movies,' So some characters come in at the end of the second, hoping that it will ramp up on the third one."
  13. "Resaltó su esfuerzo por meter cuantas cosas mexicanas puede en sus filmes, su idea de incluir a un Jaeger mexicano llamado Black Maria en Pacific Rim 2, el episodio donde un luchador, encarnado por Joaquín Cosío, hace acto de presencia en The Strain y la inclusión de gente mexicana en sus proyectos mas recientes."
  14. Beacham: "..As of right this second, I’m not busy with Pacific Rim 2. I did some work on it and I’ll do more if they ask, but it’s not currently on my plate. Which sounds weird, I know, but it’s totally normal. That’s just how features work. Writers come and go as needed. A film project doesn’t cast as long of a shadow on a writer’s calendar as a tv idea. On a feature, you do your thing and you’re kinda done before things get serious. As opposed to a tv project, which might drag its feet through development like anything else, but can’t break into a sprint towards production without inevitably taking you with"

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Pacific Rim 2 Update: Charlie Hunnam Reprising His Role as Raleigh, Guillermo del Toro Reveals Favorite Character
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Guillermo Del Toro Reveals Details About Pacific Rim 2 - Comic Con 2014
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Guillermo del Toro Says PACIFIC RIM 2 Begins a Few Years After PACIFIC RIM in a Kaiju-Free World; Charlie Day and Burn Gorman to Return
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 WARCRAFT and PACIFIC RIM 2 Pushed to Summer; THE MUMMY Reboot Delayed
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Universal Pushes ‘Warcraft’ and ‘Pacific Rim 2′ Back Into Summer Season
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 @Legendary - April 23, 2015
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Guillermo del Toro - Special Message about Pacific Rim
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Legendary Pictures Sequel Confirmation
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 “Pacific Rim 2” Will Storm Into Theaters On April 7, 2017
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Hollywood Gorilla Warfare: It’s Universal vs. Legendary Over ‘Kong: Skull Island’ (and Who Says "Thank You")
  11. 11.0 11.1 PACIFIC RIM 2 PRODUCTION REPORTEDLY DELAYED
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Guillermo del Toro in Talks to Direct 'Fantastic Voyage' Remake (Exclusive)
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 ‘Pacific Rim 2’ Now ‘Off the Table Indefinitely’ at Universal
  14. Pacific Rim 2 is Back With the Man Behind Daredevil Directing
  15. ‘Pacific Rim 2’ Is Back On With ‘Daredevil’s Steven S. DeKnight Directing
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 Guillermo del Toro talks 'Pacific Rim' sequel ideas
  17. @TravisBeacham, July 22, 2013
  18. Legendary’s Thomas Tull Offers Trick ‘r Treat 2, Pacific Rim 2 Updates
  19. 19.0 19.1 19.2 Guillermo del Toro Says “Pacific Rim 2” Script Is In The Works
  20. Fox cancels sexy Egypt fantasy 'Hieroglyph' before premiere
  21. pacificrimmovie: Pacific Rim Guillermo del Toro - Special Message (archive link)
  22. LEGENDARY • Guillermo del Toro, director of Pacific Rim and...
  23. @THR June 26, 2014
  24. @burngorman June 26, 2014
  25. 25.0 25.1 Guillermo Del Toro on ‘Pacific Rim 2,’ ‘At the Mountains of Madness’ and More
  26. 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 Comic-Con: Guillermo del Toro talks ‘Crimson Peak,’ ‘Pacific Rim 2′
  27. ‘Furious 8′ to Debut April 14, 2017 - Variety.com
  28. Guillermo Del Toro Talks CRIMSON PEAK, Its Literary Influence, PACIFIC RIM 2, and More
  29. 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 ‘Pacific Rim 2′: What Should We Expect From the Sequel?
  30. del Toro reveals Pacific Rim sequel details
  31. Pacific Rim Sequel to focus on 'Drifting' with the Kaiju?
  32. Guillermo Del Toro On What You Can And Can’t Expect From The Pacific Rim DVD, Blu-Ray And Sequel
  33. 'Pacific Rim 2'? Director Already Has 'A Couple Of Things' In Mind
  34. Charlie Hunnam hopes Pacific Rim 2 isn't as effects-driven as the first film
  35. EXCLUSIVE: Guillermo del Toro opens up about Crimson Peak, Hellboy 3 and Pacific Rim 2
  36. 36.0 36.1 Guillermo del Toro Talks CRIMSON PEAK, PACIFIC RIM 2, THE HOBBIT, and More
  37. 37.0 37.1 FICG 2015: Guillermo del Toro presente en el Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara
  38. GUILLERMO DEL TORO SAYS PACIFIC RIM 2'S BUDGET AND SCRIPT ARE IN
  39. del Toro Submits Script for Pacific Rim 2 Film
  40. Paul Austerberry on Pacific Rim 2's original ending (with del Toro as director)
  41. Guillermo del Toro Breaks Down His Long List of Unmade Projects, Including a ‘Hulk’ TV Series
  42. Guilermo del Toro @RealGDT - November 26, 2018
  43. ‘Pacific Rim’ Writer Travis Beacham Wanted to Travel to the Other Side of the Rift in Sequels
  44. PACIFIC RIM WRITER SAYS ORIGINAL SEQUEL COULD'VE BEEN 'ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIFT'
  45. 45.0 45.1 Guillermo del Toro Reveals His Twisty, Scrapped Original Story for ‘Pacific Rim 2’
  46. Exclusive: Rinko Kikuchi Talks Pacific Rim 2 and Star Wars: Episode VIII
  47. 47.0 47.1 Guillermo del Toro Clarifies ‘Pacific Rim 2′ Roles Talks ‘Haunted Mansion’ and ‘Hellboy 3′
  48. "Pacific Rim" Director Mentions Desire to Cast "Game of Thrones" Actress, Plus Japanese Influences
  49. Rumor: 'Pacific Rim: Maelstrom' Delayed
  50. Christopher Nolan’s Next Movie Coming in 2017
  51. 'Pacific Rim 2' Get Moved To Avoid Another 'Dark Knight' Vs 'Hellboy 2' Showdown?
  52. Pacific Rim Movie: This Doesn't Sound Too Good
  53. ‘Pacific Rim 2′ Delayed Indefinitely, May Be Cancelled Altogether
  54. 'Pacific Rim 2' Could Be Cancelled For Same Reason As 'Tron 3'
  55. 55.0 55.1 Guillermo Del Toro is still working on Pacific Rim 2
  56. Guillermo Del Toro Says He "May Do Another Movie" Before 'Pacific Rim 2' Plus New 'Crimson Peak' Pics
  57. 'Pacific Rim 2' Development Is "Still Going," Guillermo del Toro Says
  58. Guilermo del Toro @RealGDT - January 11, 2016
  59. Pacific Rim sequel "Maelstrom" begins filming in Toronto in November
  60. Pacific Rim 2 Has A New Name
  61. 61.0 61.1 #FICG30: ¿Veremos un Jaeger mexicano en Titanes del Pacífico 2? Guillermo del Toro responde
  62. I am Idris Elba, AMA!
  63. 'Pacific Rim 2' And 'Prometheus 2' News And Rumors: Idris Elba Talks Returning For Sequels And Possible Prequels
  64. Guillermo Del Toro Planning for PACIFIC RIM 3; Aiming to Begin Production on PACIFIC RIM 2 in Late 2015
  65. Pacific Rim 2 Will Lead Right Into Pacific Rim 3
  66. Travis Beacham: What are you working on right now? - March 30, 2015

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