Because PACIFIC RIM only grossed just over $100 mil stateside, a lot of us were skeptical when Legendary and GDT continued talk of a sequel, and only slightly less so when that sequel was actually greenlit for a 2017 release.
And, perhaps unsurprisingly, it seems to have indeed been too good to be true.
THR posted a report today about Warner Bros. plans now that they’re the ones footing the bill for KONG: SKULL ISLAND. Apparently, the idea is to follow up KONG with a GODZILLA 2, and then a DESTROY ALL MONSTERS with all of the monsters from both series butting heads.
And that leaves no room (read: money) for our dear, sweet PACIFIC RIM sequel.
”Legendary wanted to produce a sequel to del Toro's PACIFIC RIM which was made under the Warners deal and turned into one of those films that grosses a lot ($411 million worldwide) while being so costly that a follow-up isn't a sure thing. Sources say Legendary liked that the original performed exceptionally well in China, where the company is heavily invested, but for now the project — which had been ramping up to make a release date in August 2017 — has been halted indefinitely and will be pushed back (if it gets made at all).”
We’re still waiting to hear if these are just possible plans that are on the table, or if, indeed, del Toro’s follow-up is just plain not happenin’. But it does seem like the move to get in on SKULL ISLAND might have been WB’s way to play it safe and forget about dropping boatloads of cash on a PR2…which I’m sure poor del Toro and whomever he had working on preproduction had no idea about until after it was all over (one hopes, at least).
I was of the thinking that PR2, like HELLBOY 2, would benefit from us having spent time in that world already, and could hit the ground running without the miles of exposition and setup we needed before we could get to enjoying the lovely jaeger-on-kaiju action. GDT had obviously planned out his sequel in advance, and it would’ve been interesting to see where the story went and what new side(s) of the world we would end up exploring. But there’s no question that more people know/care about KING KONG and GODZILLA than of del Toro and Travis Beachem’s more recent creations, and brand recognizability is the name of the game right now, which, once again (after IN THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS), leaves the passionate director out in the cold.
To think that this news was buried in an article primarily about KONG and GODZILLA says a lot about how the trades (and stateside audiences in general) consider the PACIFIC RIM property, and it’s not unthinkable that WB felt very similarly about its relevance and box office potential. I’m just hoping (cue Arnold voice) it's all bullshit! I’m getting increasingly nauseous from the repeated dilution and recycling of old brands and properties, and PAC RIM, as cemented as its roots might’ve been in Japanese Kaiju films, was something new, with a unique world that was fun to dig into and explore for 2 hours (or more, if you read the tie-in comic and played the video game). It seemed like something that warranted a franchise, so you would see the battle between humans and these Kaijus on a worldwide scale instead of just around Hong Kong (and maybe, once, in daylight...).
Still, I can admit that I never thought there seemed to be that much room for audience growth going forward, and my disappointing realization that Americans really were not going to care about PACIFIC RIM has not been dissuaded in any way (I still get confused looks when friends see the poster in my living room). They haven’t called it yet, but it’s not looking good; it seems, to me, as unlikely to get made as it was in that first month or so after the film’s release. Let us all collectively cross our fingers and send our positive energy, and maybe we can try and Tinkerbell this fucker back to life.
Otherwise, we just have the inevitably nonsense explanation for why Kong and Zilla are the same size to look forward to.
PACIFIC RIM 2 might not be ready for deployment on August 4th, 2017.
