While the film community is still reeling from the heartbreaking news that Universal and director Guillermo del Toro were unable to agree upon terms for a greenlight on the big-budget R-rated adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness, invariably killing the project for now, it may indeed be time to move on. The silver lining that came with news of Madness’ demise was that del Toro would quickly move on to direct a film he’s had in development for a while, Pacific Rim. Now, details regarding the closely-guarded plot may have broken. Here’s what News in Film has to say regarding the “two worlds” that the film takes place in:

“The first [world] is an alternate version of Earth in the near future, decades after an historic date in November 2012 when the first kaiju, a towering Godzilla-like beast, emerged from a hole in the Pacific Ocean and attacked the city of Osaka, Japan.  The second [world] is ‘The Anteverse,’ another universe on the other side of that gaping portal, 5 miles below our ocean’s surface.”

That sure sounds like it’s right up del Toro’s alley. However, given the secrecy regarding the film, take this plot description with a grain of salt for now as nothing's been confirmed. For more details on the supposed plot hit the jump. Beware: possible spoilers for the first act may lurk below.

The report from News in Film is fairly detailed, pretty much giving an outline of everything that happens in the first act of Pacific Rim. Here's a rundown of what the film may entail:

Apparently the plot revolves around monstrous creatures that continue to appear through the rim in the Pacific Ocean that leads to The Anteverse. Since these creatures wreaking havoc on cities becomes kind of a problem, the military devises the “Jaeger” program to combat the beasts. This program trains teams of two to pilot giant “building-sized” mechanical devices complete with armor and advanced weaponry in order to stand up against the creatures.

The main characters of the film are described thusly:

“The central character is Raleigh Antrobus, 23, a skilled Jaeger pilot still wrestling emotionally with the loss of his co-pilot and biological brother, Yance, during a mission a year earlier.  The ordeal has wreaked havoc on his mind spirit, leaving him with ghostly nightmares of the battle from the shared 'pons' experience.  After the initial setup, the damaged hero is recruited to re-join the task force in Tokyo, where pilots are in demand, and team with a fellow 'leftover,' 22-year-old female Japanese pilot Mako Mori.”

The other character mentioned is a journalist by the name of Felicity “Flick” Kincaid, who was Yance’s fiancée. She’s doing her “investigative journalist” thing and flying around the globe, trying to uncover answers about the mysterious hole in the rim.

This definitely sounds like an intriguing project, and with del Toro’s mastery of creature design, I’m sure we’re in for quite a treat visually. There’s a mental block in my head wherein I can’t stop seeing those weaponized suits from Avatar, but I’m sure once we get a glimpse of Pacific Rim that issue will be put to rest.