PACIFIC RIM: MAELSTROM Might be CANCELLED


Uh oh.

Pacific Rim Movie

A week ago today we brought you a rumour that Pacific Rim: Maelstrom, the 2017 sequel to the jaegar/kaiju monster mash movie, was gonna be delayed in filming. At the time I and others figured this was just down to fairly regular blockbuster behind-the-scenes issues; budgeting, tax incentives, finalising the script – all that crap. Turns out we were right on budgeting, however the outcome could be far more serious than a little delay.

The Hollywood Reporter have published a big piece on the conflicts between Universal, Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, and tucked away in it is an important little nugget of information: the sequel has been “halted indefinitely and will be pushed back (if it gets made at all).”

A moment of silence for Pacific Rim 2, everybody.

pacific-rim-rip

I think I’ll stick to writing over graphic design.

This, of course, sucks. I was always kinda surprised by the fact that a sequel was ever given the go-ahead since its gross of $411m is a lot of money, however it may not be the kind of money that justifies making these types of movies. It’s unclear why it’s been “halted indefinitely,” however given the article is all about money I’m guessing either Legendary or Universal weren’t entirely comfortable with the budget. I’m also guessing given the article that it was Universal who weren’t willing to put up the money.

Legendary was previously at Warner Bros. but when relations turned sour there they found a new home at Universal, however judging from their apparent refusal to pay a quarter of Kong: Skull Island‘s $125m budget (that’s roughly $30m for a guaranteed megahit – seriously?) and other bits and bobs from the article it seems as if this new relationship isn’t working out entirely as planned. There are good and bad outcomes to this; the good is that Skull Island has since moved to Warner Bros. so that the giant ape and Godzilla can be pitted against each other in a big-ass monster movie. The bad is, obviously, that Pacific Rim: Maelstrom risks cancellation.

Unless a deal can be worked out or Guillermo del Toro reworks the script to make it less expensive, this could be the end of all those big plans, which is a shame. Despite paying close attention to all pieces of news like this, I’m no expert, and I find it ridiculous that this problem is only now cropping up even though a sequel was announced under the new co-production deal over a year ago. Universal have enjoyed a brilliant year so far, what with Furious 7, Jurassic World and Minions all crossing the $1B threshold; perhaps their newfound success has led to a new sense of frugality?

As a big fan of the first movie, I’m hoping that something can be worked out and we get another movie. At the same time, though, I think Pacific Rim works great as a standalone. It’s fun and awesome as fuck and its story is neatly wrapped up; obviously the potential is there to continue, but there isn’t a necessity.

Well, I guess seeing more jaegers and kaijus smashing each other would constitute as a necessity.

PACIFIC RIM