Guillermo Del Toro Talks 'Pacific Rim 2'; Charlie Day and Burn Gorman to Return

Guillermo Del Toro is always making the press rounds for something because he takes on so many projects, and lately he's been pushing the DVD/Blu-Ray release of The Strain's first season. Of course that means he's going to get asked about other projects like Pacific Rim 2. The script for that one is coming together now that it has been officially confirmed, and while Del Toro has previously said some characters may not return we know two that definitely will: Charlie Day and Burn Gorman as scientists Newt Geiszler and Hermann Gottlieb.

Del Toro went on to reveal to Collider that the sequel takes place a few years after the last film's conclusion, and things have definitely changed...

"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."

So if there are no kaiju, does the world need scientists like Geiszler and Gottlieb? Maybe not, but there's always room for some comic relief...

"It’s quite a different movie from the first one in that, but I think that two of our main characters like in the first one are Burn and Charlie.  They are really, really – I mean, honestly, they are probably the guys I have the most fun writing along with Hannibal Chau so just from a purely selfish drive, I like writing them.  I love writing for Charlie and Burn.  I mean, [Burn's] in Crimson Peak for that reason, because I love working with him.  You’re gonna get a lot of that, but the Kaijus are very different and you’re gonna see a very different type of the robots I think.  It’s gonna be quite a different adventure."

A totally different status quo from the outset, but we know there will be plenty of new kaiju and jaeger designs so don't expect it to last.  Pacific Rim 2's script is being worked on by Zak Penn and Travis Beacham, with the film due to open April 7th 2017.

Read More

'Pacific Rim' Sequel Set for 2017, Preceded by Animated Series

This is turning out to be one epic day for fans of giant robots slugging it out on the big screen. Right now audiences should be sitting down to take in Michael Bay's Transformers: Age of Extinction, which will probably bank a cool $1B for Paramount. And over on the Universal lot they have just confirmed what fans were hoping for, that Guillermo Del Toro would get a sequel to Pacific Rim.

After revealing a few weeks ago that he and Zak Penn were working on a Pacific Rim 2 script in hopes it would be green lit, the studio has now slotted the film for April 7th 2017. There aren't any plot details yet but we can probably expect new Jaeger designs, bigger Kaiju, and the return of Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi. Del Toro tells Buzzfeed...

“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.”

There will also be a Pacific Rim animated series arriving some time before the sequel. More details on that when it becomes available. I'm sure our own +Julian Lytle is doing backflips right now.

Read More

Guillermo Del Toro and Zak Penn Working On 'Pacific Rim 2' Script

While there has been faint chatter of a sequel to Pacific Rim, Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. have yet to make a firm decision. Guillermo Del Toro's first film checked in with about $400M mostly earned overseas which isn't surprising given the many influences from Japanese culture. During the Austin TV Fest where he was promoting his FX series, The Strain,  Del Toro confirmed to Buzzfeed that he and Zak Penn are working on the script for Pacific Rim 2 as if it will definitely happen...

Del Toro:  “I’m working very, very hard with Zak Penn. We’ve been working for a few months now in secret. We found a way to twist it around. Travis Beacham [co-writer of the first film, now working on Fox’s Hieroglyph] was involved in the storyline and now I’m writing with Zak because Travis has become a TV mogul.” 

Penn has been a part of some big films but also a lot of duds. He helped develop the story for Marvel's The Avengers, and co-wrote the screenplays for X-men: The Last Stand and The Incredible Hulk. The script will take place after the first movie and brings back jaeger pilots Raleigh Becket and Mako Mori, played by Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi respectively.

Del Toro: “Some people were wondering if we were going to do the prequel. I was never interested in doing that first wave of invasion. I’m going for very new, very crazy ideas on the second one, which are very different from the first one — but you will get really great spectacle.”

Del Toro says he hopes to shoot it after his next project which is presumably the horror Crimson Peak, which stars Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, and Hunnam.

Read More