Apocalypse Cancelled Again As Pacific Rim 2 Gets Release Date

Today’s announcement just goes to show that Buffy ain’t the only fictional universe to gets its claws around the apocalypse’s throat more than once. Pacific Rim 2, the sequel to the robo-monster flick that dominated the box office and made slobbering messes of the nerds, has bagged a release date.

Director of the original, Guillermo del Toro, has spilled the beans via YouTube on the current status of the long-awaited sequel. The official release date is scheduled for April 7th, 2017. What? Yes, three years away. Fear not, if you’re beside yourself at the thought of not seeing Charlie Hunnam with his shirt off (in which case you should really watch Sons Of Anarchy) and giant jaegers fighting colossal beasts – Del Toro had more news. He’s currently developing an animated series based on the franchise, set for release some time before the sequel, which, should host a roster of returning faces. Talking to Buzzfeed, Del Toro said:

“The characters I love will return. 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.”

Last year, the original hauled in $411 million worldwide, but apparently that paltry sum wasn’t up to snuff. It took over a year for the sequel to get greenlit. That amount of time usually means one thing: the franchise’s bloated corpse is bobbing about in the spitoon that studio execs spit the souls of struggling screenwriters into. Del Toro put up a good fight though and Legendary Pictures eventually gave him the go-ahead to develop the sequel, which he’s currently writing with Zak Penn. That’s not to say original scribe Travis Beacham is out of the picture. He’s reportedly involved in developing the franchise.

Whether you enjoyed the first flick, or felt it was a Frankensteined collage of genre tropes and offensive stereotypes, the idea of another blockbuster from Del Toro is very, very good news indeed.

Check out the official word from Legendary Pictures, as well as Del Toro’s video announcement below. Then, head on down to the comments section and tell us what you think of Pacific Rim 2. Do we need the apocalypse cancelling again?

Guillermo del Toro returns to direct Legendary Pictures’ PACIFIC RIM 2, the next chapter of the epic action-adventure he created with 2013’s hit original film. Zak Penn will write the script with del Toro. Legendary’s Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni once again produce alongside del Toro, Mary Parent and Callum Greene. Jillian Share will executive produce. Universal Pictures will release the film worldwide in 3D and IMAX 3D.