Guillermo del Toro Already Writing ‘Pacific Rim 2’

In an interview with IGN, Guillermo del Toro confirmed that he and co-scribe Travis Beacham are writing sequel to their hit blockbuster, Pacific Rim. “The decision to green light or not,” del Toro commented, “that’s definitely above my pay rate.”

Despite reports that Pacific Rim was box office disappointment in North America, the film’s worldwide gross reached over $400 million. A rather fitting outcome given the heavy influence from Japanese monster movies and anime, as well the spirit of international cooperation put forth by the narrative. As one of his most financially successful movies, it wouldn’t be surprising if Guillermo del Toro wanted to transform Pacific Rim into a tentpole franchise that could support less profitable endeavors. Most infamously, del Toro has been trying for years to get funding for an R-rated adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness. Establishing himself with Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. as a reliable, money-making talent, in much the same way that Christopher Nolan did with his Batman trilogy, could be a key step in bringing del Toro’s passion projects to the big screen.

So, what could Pacific Rim 2 be about? For those who missed it, Pacific Rim pitted otherworldly monsters called Kaiju (Japanese for “monster”) against human-built and piloted robots called Jeagers (German for “hunter”). The film starred Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi (Babel) as Jeager pilots and Idris Elba (Thor) as their commanding officer. Without spoiling too much from the ending, second Kaiju-Jeager war after the first film seems unlikely. Considering that the giant monster versus giant robot fights were easily the highlight of the movie, del Toro and Beacham have their work cut out for them if they plan to restart that conflict or expand on another element from the original (and if you’ll remember, we had some thoughts about that following Pacific Rim‘s release). Of course, all questions about the plot become moot if Legendary and Warner choose not to produce a sequel. Del Toro certainly wants to move forward but it is probably too early for fans to get too excited.