Pacific Rim 2: Maelstorm

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***Pacific Rim 2: Maelstorm*** is an upcoming American science fiction film. Written by Guillermo del Toro and Zak Penn, the film stars Charlie Day and Burn Gorman.

## Development and Production

In July 2012, del Toro discussed the possibility of making a *Pacific Rim* sequel. "We always leave ideas that were in the first draft as you go along. You know, either a set piece that was great but too expensive, an idea that was really bright, but it couldn't quite fit the structure... so we have a little stash of stuff we wanted to do that we didn't get to do. So if that's a possibility, A) I would be very happy to do a sequel, but B) a lot of these ideas, set pieces and all that, actually have in them a really good seed for a sequel." On December 4, Legendary Pictures announced that it had selected Pacific Rim co-writer Travis Beacham to write the sequel, along with del Toro, though there was no comment as to whether del Toro would return to direct the second film. At WonderCon 2013, del Toro expressed enthusiasm for a potential crossover between *Pacific Rim* and *Godzilla*—another Legendary Pictures Kaiju film—but stressed that no such plans were in place. In July 2013, del Toro discussed the sequel, stating: "The main idea that we're bouncing off is the fact that Newt drifted with a Kaiju brain, and all Kaiju brains are connected. We say that. They are like a hive mentality. So, you know, draw your own conclusions." The director has also stated the sequel will feature "Gipsy 2.0", as well as a "merging of Kaiju and Jaeger" In October 2013, del Toro revealed that he and Beacham would return to write the sequel, despite the film not yet being greenlit at the time

In June 2014, when the sequel was still unconfirmed, del Toro stated that he had secretly been working on the script with Zak Penn for several months and confirmed that Raleigh and Mako would return. Beacham initially developed the storyline with del Toro, but dropped out to work on the TV series *Hieroglyph*. Later in June 2014, del Toro confirmed that he would direct the sequel, and that it would be released by Universal Pictures, Legendary's new financing and distribution partner, on April 7, 2017. A non-episodic animated series connecting both film and a continuation of the graphic novel were also announced. On July 9, del Toro announced that the design production for Pacific Rim 2 would start in August 2014, and that scouting for the location would take place in July 2015, with principal photography commencing in November that year.

On October 16, 2014, del Toro talked about beginning production for *Pacific Rim 2* in late 2015, and also mentioned the possibility of a *Pacific Rim 3*.

In November 2014, del Toro confirmed that the sequel will not be an immediate follow up and will take place years after the first film, focusing on the aftermath of the Kaiju war and fate of the Jaeger technology. Del Toro additionally confirmed that the characters for Charlie Day and Burn Gorman will return, with the sequel set to feature "very different" types of Jaegers and Kaijus and that the film will be "quite a different adventure".

In January 2015, Penn revealed that film's sequel will focus on the origins of Kaijus.

In April 2015, Legendary announced that the sequel film's release date has been moved to August 4, 2017. Filming is expected to begin in November 2015 with the working title *Maelstrom*.

## Cast

* Charlie Day as Dr. Newton Geiszler
* Burn Gorman as Dr. Hermann Gottlieb