In 2013, Guillermo del Toro did the gigantic monster and robot movie audience a favour by releasing “Pacific Rim” in theatres. The director chose to create a massively expensive love letter to the kaiju genre rather than participating in an established franchise’s sandbox. The 2018 sequel “Pacific Rim: Uprising,” which del Toro merely produced, was made possible by the sci-fi blockbuster’s just-sufficient box office success. However, admirers of such grand spectacles are increasingly speculating about the possibility of a “Pacific Rim 3.” Here is what is known, what is planned, and what fans may anticipate.
Guillermo del Toro Has No Plans to Return
Following the first film’s (considering its enormous budget) somewhat meagre performance, Warner Bros. and Legendary began planning a sequel. It took Del Toro a while to develop, and he expected to direct his own “Pacific Rim 2.” Unfortunately, timing ended up being a problem. Del Toro revealed to Collider in 2017 that he ultimately decided to shoot “The Shape of Water” instead, which went on to win the Best Picture Oscar. The director remarked:
“The timing began to be terrible. The Shape of Water was a small film that I desperately wanted to do. When given the choice between Justice League Dark and Pacific Rim, I opted for the latter. Legendary was actually about to be sold to China, to a Chinese firm [named the Wanda Group], so they actually said, “We’re going to need to postpone.” They said, “We have to wait nine months,” but I responded, “I’m not waiting nine months; I’m shooting a movie,” so I went ahead and started filming [The Shape of Water], and Steven DeKnight was our actor of choice.”
After a sabbatical, directors occasionally return to franchises. Although he did hint (from the perspective of a fan) that perhaps “Pacific Rim” and the MonsterVerse, which houses the current “Godzilla” and “King Kong” films, inhabit the same place, del Toro has made it clear on Twitter that he has no such plans. The filmmaker noted:
“I personally adore watching the neon, sea battles, building devastation, etc. because secretly — maybe — the PAC RIM Universe coexists in the LEGENDARY Kaijuverse and, perhaps — one day — they can rumble!”
Del Toro clarified, “Talking just as a fan BTW – NO intentions to return,” in a tweet that followed. So, resist having high expectations.
Pacific Rim 3 Would Have Set Up a Massive Crossover
“Pacific Rim 3” has not been announced by Warner Bros. or Legendary. Given that “Uprising” did not perform exceptionally well critically or commercially, that makes sense. However, as director Steven S. DeKnight acknowledged, there were sketchy ideas in place for something significant. He disclosed on Twitter that del Toro’s hypothesis would have ultimately been correct:
“Actually, that was my long-term strategy. The conclusion of PR3 was designed to unite the two universes.”
The conclusion of the movie would have somehow combined its monsters and Jaegers with the likes of Godzilla and King Kong if DeKnight’s suggested version of “Pacific Rim 3” had been realised. It’s unclear how that would have happened, but either way, it would have been enormous. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that we’ll ever get to see this.
It Doesn’t Make Financial Sense
The truth is that the movie industry is ultimately a business. The existence of movies depends on their ability to generate revenue, particularly when discussing an expensive blockbuster sequel. To that end, “Uprising” marked a declining trend for the “Pacific Rim” series, which had already barely eked by. From the perspective of the studio, “Pacific Rim 3” would be difficult to market.
A very respectable $411 million was made by “Pacific Rim” worldwide. Its $190 million production budget, however, unquestionably prevented it from becoming profitable. However, those global returns were sufficient to call for a follow-up. The issue is that “Pacific Rim: Uprising” performed substantially worse critically and made significantly less money, earning only $290 million globally. There was no reason to believe that a third film would be sufficient of a course correction to warrant yet another significant expenditure, even with its smaller $155 million budget.
Having said that, there is currently no reason to believe “Pacific Rim 3” will be released. The good news is that there are still some upcoming projects for fans to look forward to, so the franchise is not completely gone.
Netflix to the Rescue
In 2021, the “Pacific Rim: The Black” anime series from Netflix was made available to viewers. The sitcom earned positive reviews from viewers and attracted a sizable enough viewership on the streaming platform to be renewed. Therefore, the show will eventually return for a second season. Additionally, Legendary has released a number of comic books set in that world, including “Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero.”
It’s evident that there is still some gas in the tank and Legendary is eager in finding a way to keep the series going, even though a movie is currently out of the question. By no means, though, are those who were looking forward to “Pacific Rim 3” completely out of luck.
