Guillermo del Toro Says PACIFIC RIM: MAELSTROM is Still On

Things have now gotten even messier.

A few days ago, we brought you the news that Universal has halted work on Pacific Rim: Maelstrom, with the movie potentially not getting made at all. No reason was given, but the general consenseus is that it was a money issue. The idea of a sequel always had a dream-come-true-feel to it; it’s a miracle the first flick even got made. A big-budget summer blockbuster about kaijus and jaegers, featuring a largely unknown cast and a title that could also be used for its porn parody? C’mon, it sounds insane.

A sequel was only ever considered because it made a gazillion ($300m) dollars in China, while it only just broke $100m domestically. Regardless, it’s still a big risk, so nobody was really surprised to see that it may not come to fruition. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a sad day.

The epitome of photoshop skills.

However, despite all of that, there’s one man who we hadn’t heard from on the matter – until now. That man is director Guillermo del Toro, who is probably a fairly reliable source on the matter. According to him, the sequel is still on.

“We are still turning in a screenplay and a budget in three weeks. As far as I’m concerned, it’s not gone. We’re still on it.”

That seems pretty definite to me. I mean, del Toro wouldn’t lie about explicit details such as that, so I’ll take his words for it. However, that doesn’t mean that THR is wrong; they could just be hearing what executives are really thinking, which will get back to del Toro in three weeks.

One thing that is correct, though, is that there’s been a delay – or it may still be ongoing. “It moved further,” he added. “I may do another movie in the middle.” Good news for del Toro fans like me!

It still seems like very early days i.e. any possible cancellation of Pacific Rim: Maelstrom, so make sure to keep a close eye on UTF for any more deets.

What do you guys think – should Universal move forward with a sequel or should they pull the plug? Sound off!