After Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim failed to set the box office alight as original studio Warner Bros. expected, prospects of a sequel appeared uncertain. It was only after the film had been released in Asia, and done solid business with the Chinese market, that new studio Universal decided to greenlight Pacific Rim 2.
Still, that Pacific Rim made just $411 million (with barely $100 million of that coming from the US) on a $190 million budget meant Pacific Rim 2 was always more of a gamble than a sure bet. So, it wasn’t hugely surprising that, with pre-production in full swing and the prospective shoot date coming ever closer, Universal decided to halt the film “indefinitely.” It was unsurprising, but still hugely disappointing.
And that’s not just because this was the second time a major studio had pulled the plug on a Guillermo del Toro project just as it was about to roll; if Universal does get things moving on Pacific Rim 2 again (del Toro and Universal insist the film will still move forward, but at this point the film is bumped off the release calendar and nothing is certain), there are several reasons to believe the studio would have something promising on their hands.
Here, then, are seven reasons why they should un-cancel production on Pacific Rim 2 sooner rather than later.