For a little while, "Pacific Rim 2" seemed to be uncertain while Charlie Hunnam, the film prequel's lead cast, stated that he was not coming back to shoot the second film. Other original casts of "Pacific Rim" have not confirmed their returns too.
Since 2013, it's unsure whether or not the science fiction film is going to have a sequel. Now it's all settled because a release date have been announced by Universal Pictures.
One thing is for sure, some casts from the first film will return as characters to the sequel. Some unfortunately won't be able to like Hunnam.
The actor confirmed on an interview with Yahoo that he is not returning for "Pacific Rim 2" due to scheduling conflicts.
In October 2014, Guillermo del Toro, "Pacific Rim" director and "Pacific Rim 2" producer, talked about the beginning of production for the sequel in late 2015. He also mentioned about the possibility for a third installment.
He mentioned that few casts from the first movie will possibly return, and stated that the sequel is set to feature "very different" types of Jaegers and Kaiju.
In April 2015, Legendary announced that the sequel film's release date has been moved to Aug. 4, 2017, and set the working title for the film as "Pacific Rim: Maelstrom."
Late September 2015, del Toro tweeted that the budget and script of the film are done. It was then announced in early 2016 that Steven DeKnight will direct the sequel, making it his directorial debut while del Toro will remain as the producer.
On June 2016, it was announced that "Star Wars" John Boyega will take the lead in the upcoming sequel. Del Toro discussed on the involvement of Boyega, 24, saying, "I admire him tremendously. The idea for me is that this is a continuation of the great leadership character that was Idris Elba. It's a very different character but I love the idea of having a main character who is not a white Anglo-Saxon guy. Before the heated conversation about diversity in film started we we're doing Pacific Rim. And I think that universe is a huge proponent of that."
At the end of the month, Deadline reported that Scott Eastwood was in negotiations with the production team to join the film in a key role.
A new release date of Feb. 23, 2018 for "Pacific Rim: Maelstrom" has been confirmed by the studio.
