Pacific Rim 2 - Indefinitely delayed, possibly canceled.

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
Bad news.

And the bad news continues for Guillermo del Toro and his fans. Universal Pictures has announced it’s pulling Pacific Rim 2 off its release calendar completely, following reports earlier this month that the project had been postponed or even cancelled. Meanwhile, Pitch Perfect 3 is moving back two weeks to fill Pacific Rim 2‘s old slot.

And this:

Despite the Pacific Rim 2 release date cancellation, the studio maintains that it is committed to making a sequel happen. In a statement, Universal and Legendary said the creative team will use the extra time “to continue in its efforts to exceed the amazing experience of the first film,” so that it can deliver “the vanguard, fully-immersive experience that the franchise deserves.”

The first Pacific Rim floundered domestically, making just $101 million. (Which wouldn’t be so bad, except it cost $190 million to make.) But it made a killing overseas, resulting in a worldwide gross of $411 million, and so Universal announced a sequel to open in 2017. Then a few weeks ago, we heard the studio had decided to delay it indefinitely after getting cold feet. Today’s update isn’t a surprise, then, just a confirmation.


:(

IF they make a sequel, they need to make a few adjustments to the formula. They need to remember it is all about the kaiju, not the human heroes. No more Mako, or Raleigh Becket please. The audience is not watching them so much. I would have liked it better if they had made the Jaegers robots which are remotely controlled than have the whole "drifting" thing going on. They could have kept Idris Elba as the guy who was in charge of the Jaeger program, they could keep everyone in the film like the scientists and even the people maintaining the Jaegers. But we really do not need a Mako or Raleigh or Jaeger pilots. The fact that they could interact with the Jaeger using their brains already lays the foundation for remote operation. No more of this please:

pacific-rim-700.jpg

Universal says they are committed to making a sequel, but without an announcement date, and no greenlight, that is not much more than just a loose promise. Still Pacific Rim stands as the best kaigu film ever made.
 
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Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
The thing to remember is the film pretty much did all of its boxoffice on word of mouth. It was caught in the middle of the contracting kerfluffle between Legendary Films and Warner Brothers when Legendary ended its contract and moved to Universal. The result was Pacific Rim received little to no promotion or advertising. I strongly expect that with a normal promotional leadin the film would have had better domestic boxoffice.
 
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Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
The thing to remember is the film pretty much did all of its boxoffice on word of mouth. It was caught in the middle of the contracting kerfluffle between Legendary Films and Warner Brothers when Legendary ended its contract and moved to Universal. The result was Pacific Rim received little to no promotion or advertising. I strongly expect that with a normal promotional leadin the film would havew had better domestic boxoffice.

I agree, but the thing with Raleigh and Mako hurt the overall impact of the film. I think somebody on the writing team wanted them to be seen as the heroes in the film and it fell flat. The heroes in the film were not the Jaeger pilots but they were treated as heroes. Mako and Raleigh cannot carry any film as heroes. They are individual humans and in order for anyone to cheer for them they have to be well liked. I couldn't care less about Raleigh or Mako.

Dump them for the next film and center everything around the kaigu. It has always been about the kaigu in kaigu films, never about individual human heroes.
 

YJ02

Well Known GateFan
Bad news.



And this:

Despite the Pacific Rim 2 release date cancellation, the studio maintains that it is committed to making a sequel happen. In a statement, Universal and Legendary said the creative team will use the extra time “to continue in its efforts to exceed the amazing experience of the first film,” so that it can deliver “the vanguard, fully-immersive experience that the franchise deserves.”

The first Pacific Rim floundered domestically, making just $101 million. (Which wouldn’t be so bad, except it cost $190 million to make.) But it made a killing overseas, resulting in a worldwide gross of $411 million, and so Universal announced a sequel to open in 2017. Then a few weeks ago, we heard the studio had decided to delay it indefinitely after getting cold feet. Today’s update isn’t a surprise, then, just a confirmation.


:(

IF they make a sequel, they need to make a few adjustments to the formula. They need to remember it is all about the kaiju, not the human heroes. No more Mako, or Raleigh Becket please. The audience is not watching them so much. I would have liked it better if they had made the Jaegers robots which are remotely controlled than have the whole "drifting" thing going on. They could have kept Idris Elba as the guy who was in charge of the Jaeger program, they could keep everyone in the film like the scientists and even the people maintaining the Jaegers. But we really do not need a Mako or Raleigh or Jaeger pilots. The fact that they could interact with the Jaeger using their brains already lays the foundation for remote operation. No more of this please:

View attachment 32056

Universal says they are committed to making a sequel, but without an announcement date, and no greenlight, that is not much more than just a loose promise. Still Pacific Rim stands as the best kaigu film ever made.

this movie was so dumb

much like BATTLESHIP -sep how dumb to base it off a board game?- it had a slightly similar idea; kill bad guys out at sea

compared to PR, I preferred BATTLESHIP in all its stupid glory-like the BATTLESHIP in dock museum having powder and rounds on board

in PR, it was just plain dumb--the scenes where "our hero" flies into Hong Kong andw e guys in the background "hut hutting" around carrying rifles!!

of, these jaegers can barely handle the kaiju so one guy or a whole battalion of dudes with rifles is going to do what exactly?

just seemed there was little thought put into anything in the film other then the silly knock-em sock-em like fight scenes
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
this movie was so dumb

much like BATTLESHIP -sep how dumb to base it off a board game?- it had a slightly similar idea; kill bad guys out at sea

compared to PR, I preferred BATTLESHIP in all its stupid glory-like the BATTLESHIP in dock museum having powder and rounds on board

in PR, it was just plain dumb--the scenes where "our hero" flies into Hong Kong andw e guys in the background "hut hutting" around carrying rifles!!

of, these jaegers can barely handle the kaiju so one guy or a whole battalion of dudes with rifles is going to do what exactly?

just seemed there was little thought put into anything in the film other then the silly knock-em sock-em like fight scenes

Well, I would not compare Battleship to Pacific Rim on any level. Battleship had a lot of 'Murica rah rah in it, and I wanted to know more about the aliens which were awesome. Pacific Rim to me was infinitely more entertaining. I loved the effects, the story, and even the jaegers. But I thought it was lame that they needed pilots, and that those pilots were elevated in the film to "rock star status" (they actually said that in the narrative in the beginning). Bad move. The actual heroes were the scientists who figured out how to defeat the kaigu, not the jaeger pilots. I did not care about Raleigh or Mako being in the jaeger at all. I did not swallow the whole drifting thing either. I thought they did a great job giving the kaiju an origin and a purpose. That was great.

All in all, I still find Pacific Rim to be an AWESOME movie, and very entertaining and rewatchable. I think the second time around if they get a chance, they need to refocus the movie on the kaiju and everything connected with them, and keep the jaegers but make them robots. Give them AI or something. Remotely control them. Anything but sticking boring characters in them and hoping I will cheer for them. That is what was wrong with Godzilla 2014. They focused on the "Brody clan" and their family, while Godzilla got a bit part in comparison.
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
Lest we forget the reason for the postponement of Pacific Rim 2 is probably Godzilla. Legendary Films announced the postponement right after they announced the new Godzilla versus King Kong, which is the third Godzilla movie in the new series and follows the sequel to Godzilla 2014 which is set to air in 2018. With all of the other stuff Legendary had on their plate adding Kong probably meant something had to be bumped.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
Lest we forget the reason for the postponement of Pacific Rim 2 is probably Godzilla. Legendary Films announced the postponement right after they announced the new Godzilla versus King Kong, which is the third Godzilla movie in the new series and follows the sequel to Godzilla 2014 which is set to air in 2018. With all of the other stuff Legendary had on their plate adding Kong probably meant something had to be bumped.

They are aware of the low points in the last film from what I have been reading. I remember being very insistant that the Brody clan would show up in the next film, but that is not likely considering the feedback Legendary got. The next film should re-introduce some familiar kaiju like Rodan, Mothra, Ghidorah. My favorites! They need to make the human heroes the scientists (like they used to do). They do not need an A-list actor to headline the thing at all. This series is not a vehicle for launching a movie career.
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
So far it sounds like the only character likely to reappear is Doctor Serizawa. And as he is the lead scientist on the task force studying Godzilla that is just fine. And yes all indications are that Edwards got the point about more airtime for Goji, especially with three other Kaiju (Mothra, Rodan and Ghidorah) in the film.
 

YJ02

Well Known GateFan
Well, I would not compare Battleship to Pacific Rim on any level. Battleship had a lot of 'Murica rah rah in it, and I wanted to know more about the aliens which were awesome. Pacific Rim to me was infinitely more entertaining. I loved the effects, the story, and even the jaegers. But I thought it was lame that they needed pilots, and that those pilots were elevated in the film to "rock star status" (they actually said that in the narrative in the beginning). Bad move. The actual heroes were the scientists who figured out how to defeat the kaigu, not the jaeger pilots. I did not care about Raleigh or Mako being in the jaeger at all. I did not swallow the whole drifting thing either. I thought they did a great job giving the kaiju an origin and a purpose. That was great.

All in all, I still find Pacific Rim to be an AWESOME movie, and very entertaining and rewatchable. I think the second time around if they get a chance, they need to refocus the movie on the kaiju and everything connected with them, and keep the jaegers but make them robots. Give them AI or something. Remotely control them. Anything but sticking boring characters in them and hoping I will cheer for them. That is what was wrong with Godzilla 2014. They focused on the "Brody clan" and their family, while Godzilla got a bit part in comparison.

now I didn't say BATTLESHIP was good--just "better" imo then PR
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
now I didn't say BATTLESHIP was good--just "better" imo then PR

I liked it too! It has rewatch potential as well. It reminded me more in style of Armageddon than say a similar movie which came out that same year which was Deep Impact. Deep Impact was a bit more deep than Armageddon in terms of the scope of the movie. Armageddon was a hero building 'Murica type movie. Fun and entertaining, but to me it is in a different category than Deep Impact.
 
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Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
And....it's back!

Legendary and Universal gave Pacific Rim 2 a firm greenlight and have moved into gathering the production team. Del Toro is the Producer.

http://io9.gizmodo.com/pacific-rim-2-is-back-with-the-man-behind-daredevil-dir-1760941776

:joy::joy::joy::joy::joy:

My wishlist:

  1. No more Mako or Beckett. If they are in the movie, fine but do not make them the center of the movie or make them major characters and ESPECIALLY don't ship them. My first choice is to eliminate them completely from the story because Pentecost is dead.
  2. Make the new Jaegers non-drifting, one-man/one-woman robot fighters.
  3. Start naming the kaiju again, per tradition. No more "Class (x) Kaiju Events"
  4. Bring the aliens into the conflict (a la Destroy All Monsters, Monster from Outer Space, Monster X)
I find it disturbing and irritating that the latest kaiju films like Godzilla and the last Pacific Rim decided to make it about the human characters (thus paving the way for pointless drama). Pacific Rim was by far the best kaiju film ever made, but IMO Godzilla fell way way short of the mark on every level except the update to Godzilla himself (he is AWESOME!). The next Pacific Rim will fall flat if they bring back Mako and Beckett and the actor/actress who played them.

This is great news!
 
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Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
Primary shooting just finished on Pacific Rim Uprising - slotted for premiere Feb 2018.

There are some artist renderings of new Jaegers floating around the web - very early stuff. Looks like a new Gypsy and new and more advanced Cherno Alpha at least.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
Primary shooting just finished on Pacific Rim Uprising - slotted for premiere Feb 2018.

There are some artist renderings of new Jaegers floating around the web - very early stuff. Looks like a new Gypsy and new and more advanced Cherno Alpha at least.

So....Mako and/or Beckett? Drifting still in place? I will never understand why they did the whole drifting thing. We have driverless cars in 2017, so by 2030,computers should EASILY be able to handle a Jaeger, especially if they do it like a drone with the pilot connected to it by wearing a suit. It is literally not rocket science.
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
I believe Mako is back but Raleigh is not.

Why would they not have drifting? It is a well thought out plot element, and the notion of the pilots meant the Jaegers were not drama queen robots like the Transformers. Plus by hardware connecting the pilots to the Jaeger they remove the potential for simply jamming the Jaeger control signal, or outside elements (like water) attenuating the signal too much.

The drifting was to me a cool element. Not only did it allow explanation of Mako and Raleigh but the drifting with the Kaiju brain cleverly explained key elements of the aliens and their universe.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
I believe Mako is back but Raleigh is not.

Why would they not have drifting? It is a well thought out plot element, and the notion of the pilots meant the Jaegers were not drama queen robots like the Transformers. Plus by hardware connecting the pilots to the Jaeger they remove the potential for simply jamming the Jaeger control signal, or outside elements (like water) attenuating the signal too much.

The drifting was to me a cool element. Not only did it allow explanation of Mako and Raleigh but the drifting with the Kaiju brain cleverly explained key elements of the aliens and their universe.

It was clever, yes. And I really don't hate it, but the whole Mako and Raleigh Beckett thing was set up for this movie. If not him, then somebody else. It's the dynamic that the core of the story is boy loves girl, instead of kick Kaiju butt, that takes it away from where I hoped it might be. Still, I will absolutely love it. They can't really get it wrong. :)
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
Part of what I liked about how Pacific Rim did it was that they did not go the love story route. Mako and Raleigh did become close, which was to be expected since the drift involves sharing thoughts. But they didn't dive into romance, and thus lose focus.
 
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