Just yesterday, we wrote about how production on Pacific Rim 2 has been delayed indefinitely, and THR’s report indicated that the movie might not ever get made. But writer/director Guillermo del Toro isn’t quite ready to give up on the project yet: in a new interview with EW, he tells the outlet that the project is “not gone.”
“We are still turning in a screenplay and a budget in three weeks. As far as I’m concerned, it’s not gone. We’re still on it.”
He also mentions that the movie’s delay is temporary, saying “It moved further. I may do another movie in the middle.” That mystery film is likely the “Splash meets Wall-E” pitch he’s working on for Fox Searchlight, news of which leaked a few days ago. But del Toro isn’t completely lacking in self-awareness. He knows full well that his passion projects cost a lot of money to make and aren’t exactly easy sells.
“I can tell you this, if I was a billionaire, I would definitely do Hellboy 3, Pacific Rim 2, and At the Mountains of Madness.” He laughs. “And I would quickly become a millionaire.”
According to THR‘s earlier story, Universal was getting cold feet about Pacific Rim 2, as the original was “one of those films that grosses a lot ($411 million worldwide) while being so costly that a follow-up isn’t a sure thing.” Indeed, it made just over $101 million domestically on a $190 million production budget. But it did well overseas, particularly in that all-important Chinese market, which is the only reason a sequel was considered even a remote possibility.
Del Toro had started making plans for Pacific Rim 2 (working title: Maelstrom) before the first one even hit theaters. Several characters from the first film are expected back, including those played by Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, and Burn Gorman, but it’s said to be a “very different” type of movie.
We’ll have to wait and see what Legendary thinks about the script for Pacific Rim 2. Hopefully they decide it’s worth investing in, and maybe we’ll end up seeing it in a couple of years. Otherwise, it’ll be just one more project that slips through del Toro’s fingers.