It’s been nearly a decade since Guillermo Del Toro wowed us with the epic world of Jaegers – the first Pacific Rim film hit theaters on July 12, 2013, and tomorrow marks the franchise’s 10th anniversary. To celebrate this incredible milestone, Del Toro himself has revealed that he’s cooking up something special to commemorate this occasion.
The director, aged 58, took to Twitter to tease his upcoming surprise plans, tweeting:
We ARE planning a little something something for Pacific Rim’s TENTH (!) anniversary. It will not be precisely on the date but itbis Fun!
While the exact nature of this surprise is still unknown, here’s what we do know: Del Toro disclosed earlier this year that he has been in discussions with Legendary Pictures to bring back the film for a special occasion. The plan is to re-release Pacific Rim in 3-D IMAX for a limited weekend run in Los Angeles, all in honor of its anniversary.
The Pacific Rim franchise centers around massive alien creatures called Kaiju, a term from the Japanese monster genre. Del Toro, a fan of fictional monsters like Godzilla, has expressed his fondness for the prehistoric reptilian monster in the past, which in large part inspired Pacific Rim.
Additionally, Pacific Rim stands as Del Toro’s highest-grossing film, raking in a massive $411 million globally, against a production budget of $180–200 million. However, the sequel, Pacific Rim Uprising, didn’t quite measure up, bringing in a lackluster $290 million at the box office and being deemed a box office bomb.
To be fair, Del Toro wasn’t at the helm for the sequel, as he passed the directing duties to Steven DeKnight, who had not directed a single film before that. Ultimately, the sequel still featured plenty of robot-on-monster action though.
Thereafter, in 2021, the franchise expanded into the world of anime with Pacific Rim: The Black on Netflix. With two seasons under its belt, the series received a warm reception, outshining the second film. Fans and critics applauded its stunning visuals and the deepening of Kaiju mythology.
What’s Guillermo up to for the Kaiju verse anniversary? Is it a re-release? A video game? Or maybe, just maybe, an announcement for Pacific Rim 3? Share your thoughts and speculations in the comments section below!
