When it came out that Guillermo del Toro was no longer attached to Justice League Dark, we assumed that it was probably because his dance card was full. In an interview with The Daily Beast, the director of Pan’s Labyrinth and Crimson Peak confirmed that was the case.
“Warners liked the script, they were very enthusiastic and wanted to green-light it but they wanted it to coincide with the shoot of Pacific Rim 2,” he said. “I was put in a very difficult place facing a difficult choice, and I chose to do Pacific Rim 2.”
For all of us who remember watching the box office numbers for Pacific Rim back in 2013 and biting our fingernails, it looks like we might be going through the same experience when the sequel hits cinemas in 2017, for one reason above all others: Hellboy.
The Daily Beast reports that Legendary Pictures “might throw down for Hellboy 3 if he makes his next film, the mech-kaiju sequel Pacific Rim 2, a hit.” Pacific Rim did incredibly well internationally (hence the sequel) but disappointed somewhat in the States, inching past $100 million from a $190 million budget.
Meanwhile, del Toro seems as keen as ever to bring HB back to the big screen to complete the trilogy, and Ron Perlman has made no secret of his desire to give the character a proper send-off. The director’s working hard to not get our hopes up, though.
“The hard fact is that the movie’s going to need about $120 million and there’s nobody knocking down our doors to give it to us,” said del Toro. “It’s a little beyond Kickstarter. It would be great to complete the trilogy. But in a way I don’t see the world—the industry—supporting that idea.” Let’s hope the reaction to Pacific Rim 2 proves him wrong.
Pacific Rim 2 is set for release on 4 August 2017. Keep up with the latest genre news with the new issue of SciFiNow.
