Over the past few months, news has been creeping in about Pacific Rim 2. We learned that Daredevil: Season 1 showrunner Steven S. DeKnight would be taking over directing duties from Guillermo del Toro (who will return in a producing capacity), Derek Connolly (Jurassic World) would be handling the script, and that John Boyega had been cast in the lead role of Stacker Pentecost’s (Idris Elba) son.

Today, we finally know when we’ll be seeing the jaegers and the kaiju again. Universal and Legendary Pictures have announced that Pacific Rim 2 will open on February 23, 2018. There’s currently nothing slated for that date. However, it opens one week after Black Panther and one week before the killer shark movie Meg as well as an untitled Fox / Marvel movie (possibly Deadpool 2? Or maybe New Mutants?), so it’s not like it’s going to be clear sailing for the sequel.

What’s also interesting about the press release is that it lists John Boyega as the only cast member. Here’s the text:


John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) leads the cast of PACIFIC RIM 2, the follow-up to 2013’s cinematic battle for global domination that took audiences to future Earth’s land, skies and seas and introduced an entirely new kind of warfare. Steven S. DeKnight (Spartacus, Daredevil) directs the next chapter of the film that generated more than $400 million at the global box office, including a strong performance in China. The 3D epic adventure will be produced by returning PACIFIC RIM producers Thomas Tull, Guillermo del Toro and Mary Parent. Boyega joins the production team alongside Femi Oguns.

There’s no mention of Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Hunnam, Charlie Day, or anyone else who survived the first movie. Does this mean their starting over from scratch? Will it be a more Chinese cast since the Chinese box office performance is pretty much the whole reason we’re getting this movie? It will be interesting to see what info surfaces on Pacific Rim 2 in the months ahead.

pacific-rim
Image via Warner Bros.
pacific-rim
Image via Warner Bros.

pacific-rim
Image via Warner Bros.