The apocalypse will be cancelled. Again.
Pacific Rim was my favorite movie of last summer, without question. It's in extremely heavy rotation at our house, both because we bought the blu-ray as soon as it was available and because it's been playing on HBO about 4 times a day for months now. It's essentially become our default programming choice, whether it's watching the movie the whole way through, having something on in the background while cooking dinner or just killing 25 minutes between other activities. Why American audiences didn't turn out for this thing in droves, (yet Transformers 4 will likely emerge as the highest grossing/most terrible movie of the summer) I will simply never understand.
Fortunately the rest of the world has much better taste than us, as Pacific Rim was a MASSIVE hit overseas. And since the release of the first film, Legendary Pictures has vacated the Warner Brothers lot and set up shop over at Universal. Those guys could use a big franchise and it looks like Pacific Rim will be it. Director Guillermo del Toro released this brief YouTube announcement yesterday, confirming that we will be getting an animated series as well as a second film that will hit theaters April 7, 2017.
I am absurdly happy about this. The world of Pacific Rim is so incredibly rich and detailed that it feels as if del Toro could literally take this thing in about 50 different directions, all equally badass. And considering how the last film ended, with all the jaegers destroyed and the kaiju breach sealed, he's beholden to very little from a story standpoint. In fact, I kind of hope that the next film takes place another ten years in the future, with a new cast and a new status quo. Charlie Hunnam's Raleigh Becket was easily the weakest link of the first film, but he also feels totally replaceable. In fact, the only characters that I really NEED to see return are Mako Mori and Hannibal Chau.
I'm equally excited for this animated series which will not only continue to flesh out the universe but also hopefully attract a loyal and younger following. Pacific Rim might have disappointed at the box office, but I suspect that it's winning over more and more fans on blu-ray (and apparently HBO). Getting a few years worth of further stories ramping up to the next film can only be a good thing.
Long live Gypsy Danger!
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