After some rounds of significant release date announcements, "Pacific Rim 2" has also joined the bandwagon as Universal Pictures moved its debut date to August 4, 2017. Legendary's film was originally scheduled to the hit big screen on April 7, 2017. Guillermo del Toro, who directed the first "Pacific Rim" film, confirmed to be returning back.
The sudden change of release date was made after the two-hour CinemaCon presentation of Universal. In the said convention, the studio has announced dates for "Fifty Shades" sequels "Fifty Shades Darker" on February 10, 2017 and "Fifty Shades Freed" on February 9, 2018, and made sure the global box-office hit will only be for Valentine's. Universal followed its pronouncement with the release of "Fast and Furious 8" on April 14, 2017. Next there came the assertion of the studio's future projects.
Meanwhile, "Pacific Rim 2" will follow on from the events of the first movie, focusing on original protagonists Raleigh, played by Charlie Hunnam, and Mako portrayed by Rinko Kikuchi. This is according to the returning director Guillermo del Toro. "The characters I love will return," del Toro told BuzzFeed last year. "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," the director elaborated.
Previously on the first film, protagonists Raleigh Becket and Mako Mori hitch a ride on a fish fried Kaiju through an interdimensional realm. Their visit is cut short when Raleigh sets his Jaeger to self-destruct, destroying the invading aliens and closing the portal. But not everything though, del Toro will presumably continue the repercussion in the next installment. This will also continue to the third "Pacific Rim" film.
The second movie hasn't even moved forward, but the "Crimson Peak" director is hopeful for the third picture: "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," del Toro told Collider last year.
While Legendary, Universal and del Toro are so buoyant about the project, it cannot be denied that the original film performed poorly at the domestic box office, and was only saved in the international market. Now, let's see what the future holds in the upcoming sequels.
What do you think of the "Pacific Rim 2" being moved to a later date? Will it be a surprise since the first film was a flop? Will you be giving it a second chance then? Give us your sentiments on the discussion section below!
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