It seems that Guillermo del Toro was correct after all; Pacific Rim 2 appears to be moving forward. What he neglected to tell us was that he may not be directing—Assuming he knew that possibility was in the cards at all.
According to Deadline's exclusive, Steven S. DeKnight, best known as the creator for Spartacus and show runner for the first season of Netflix's Daredevil, will make his feature film debut with the kaiju clobbering sequel. The report also reveals that the latest draft of the film was penned by Jon Sphaits. Sphaits is best known for his early draft of Prometheus (2012) which was later re-written by Damon Lindelof. More recently, Sphaits has worked on Marvel's upcoming Doctor Strange and has been tapped for Universal's The Mummy reboot.
Guillermo del Toro will remain onboard as an executive producer with Thomas Tull and Universal is dedicated to releasing the movie. (In 3D of course.) The question is, why did del Toro step down? Did he decide to commit to other projects or did studio pressure boot him out of the director's chair in favor of something more mainstream?
Guillermo del Toro seems to be enthusiastic regardless. Just recently, on Twitter, the creator of Pacific Rim noted his excitment about DeKnight coming onboard and claimed, "we are all so happy with our choice to take Pac Rim 2to where we know it can go!!"
Will DeKnight be a suitable replacement for del Toro? A first-time, feature-film director taking on a project this big isn't necessarily unheard of, but after del Toro's masterful eye and genuine passion for the genre, a Pacific Rim sequel by someone else seems like a hollow victory. Time will tell if the same love and passion will be injected in the sequel.
What do you think? Are you happy a sequel is being made regardless? Or would you rather it not move forward without del Toro in the director's chair? Are you still excited to see the follow-up? Let us know in the comments below.
According to del Toro's twitter account, "More news soon! But- as I said a few weeks ago: this is happening and the ideas we have are great!!" Stay tuned for more as this story develops.
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Sources:
Deadline
Guillermo del Toro's Twitter Account
