Summary
Pacific Rim: Uprisingwas a $290 million Kaiju movie disappointment, and the film’s failure makes Guillermo del Toro’s unmadePacific Rimsequel even more frustrating.Pacific Rimis one of the acclaimed director’s most popular and successful films, with the epic original movie making $411 million on a budget of around $200 million. Because ofPacific Rim’s success, a sequel was greenlit soon after the original’s release, and while Guillermo del Toro was initially attached to direct the film, the final fate ofPacific Rim: Uprisingmakes the loss of del Toro’s original sequel even more painful.
The 2013 filmPacific Rimis one of the most successful American Kaiju movies to not be based on a pre-existing franchise, with the film following an army of humans who use giant robots called Jaegers to fight off the Kaiju. Upon its release,del Toro’sPacific Rimwas praised for its cinematography, unique world, and epic fight scenes, with there being all kinds of potential to turn it into a franchise. Upon the release of the first sequel, however,Pacific Rim’s reputation fell hard, mostly because del Toro wasn’t involved with the secondPacific Rimmovie.
Pacific Rim: Uprising’s Disappointment Made Del Toro’s Unmade Pacific Rim Sequel Worse
His Version Could Have Been Better
Pacific Rim: Uprisingwas a huge critical and commercial failure, with it being a major disappointment for fans who hoped to see Guillermo del Toro’sPacific Rimuniverse be expanded upon properly. With a budget of around $176 million,Pacific Rim: Uprisingmade only $290 million at the box office. This was significantly lower than the original film’s gross, and the same can be said for the critical reception.Pacific Rim: Uprisingwas panned for not being as original or well-made as the firstPacific Rim, with it being far more generic than its predecessor.
AlthoughPacific Rim: Uprisingwas a disappointment, it was clear that there was potential for aPacific Rimsequel to be great.Guillermo del Toro was originally signed on to direct thePacific Rimsequel, and although he eventually dropped out, he undoubtedly had big plans to make the sequel even better than the first. Having a talented director at the helm like Guillermo del Toro could have completely rewritten the fate of thePacific Rimfranchise, which is why its such a tragedy thatPacific Rim: Uprisingcame around to kill it.
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Why Guillermo del Toro Didn’t Direct Pacific Rim: Uprising
He Moved On To Other Projects
Upon the announcement of a sequel,Guillermo del Toro was initially set to return to the director’s chair forPacific Rim 2. This was expected, as del Toro had directed sequels for major franchises before, such asHellboy II: The Golden ArmyandBlade II. Although del Toro was eager to get started on the film, Universal and Legendary ran into problems, causing the state of the film’s future to be thrown into flux. Eventually, Legendary was sold to Chinese Wanda Group, who wanted to revitalize the production of the sequel due to the success of the first film in China.
One of the big changes upon Chinese Wanda Group’s acquisition of Legendary was that they wanted to filmPacific Rim 2in China, moving away from Toronto, where the firstPacific Rimwas filmed. However, del Toro was not interested in moving away from Toronto, with him already having plans to shoot his next film,The Shape of Water, in the Canadian city. Thus,del Toro decided to leavePacific Rim 2, with Steven S. DeKnight signing on to take over and creatingPacific Rim: Uprisingas it is known today.
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What Del Toro’s Pacific Rim Sequel Would Have Looked Like
Del Toro Did Have A Script
While del Toro was involved in the creation of hisPacific Rimsequel, he had pitched a script and budget to Legendary, meaning that he was pretty far along in the creative process. Although very few details about the story are known, Guillermo del Toro has talked about hisoriginalPacific Rim 2plans, stating that the film would take place in Shanghai, the desert, and then conclude in San Francisco. However, upon leaving the project, Derek Connolly was brought in to rewritePacific Rim: Uprising’s script, leaving del Toro’s original story behind.
Del Toro’sPacific Rimsequel would have most likely avoided some of the biggest problems withPacific Rim: Uprising, keeping the charm and wonder of the original film. Del Toro’s original film spent a lot of time discussing the working of the Jaegar robots, with this magical element of the giant robots being missing from the sequel. Del Toro’s sequel would have also most likely kept the grounded cinematography from the firstPacific Rim, something that was a major loss forPacific Rim: Uprising.
Pacific Rim
Cast
In a post-apocalyptic future, Earth battles a deadly race of alien monsters called the Kaiju, who have begun arriving on the planet through an interdimensional portal in the Pacific Ocean. In an attempt to combat the Kaiju, humanity has created Jaegers, giant robot suits powered by at least two pilots that can match their enemy for size and strength. When the Kaiju begin to become too strong, however, a washed-up Jaeger pilot must return to the program to participate in one final mission to save Earth for good.
