‘Pacific Rim 2’ Back On With ‘Daredevil’ Showrunner Steven S. DeKnight Directing

Back in September, Universal and Legendary Pictures took Pacific Rim 2 off its release schedule of August 4, 2017 and gave its projected August 4, 2017 opening date to Pitch Perfect 3. Guillermo Del Toro, who directed the original that grossed $411 million worldwide in the summer of 2013, remained optimistic that the project would still be moving forward, submitting a script and budget to the studios a month after the sequel was put on hold.

Deadline is now reporting that the project is no longer on the development back burner, but it now has a different director. Del Toro has been replaced by Steven S. DeKnight.

DeKnight was the creator, executive producer, and showrunner of the Starz series Spartacus, and was the season one showrunner Marvel Studios’ Daredevil series on Netflix, which he is still an executive producer on. DeKnight will be making his feature directorial debut on Pacific Rim 2 after having previously directed episodes of Angel, Smallville, and Dollhouse, as well as the Daredevil first season finale.

The most recent draft of the script was written by Jon Spaihts (Prometheus, Doctor Strange) and original stars Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi are committed to returning for more hot, steamy Jaeger-on-Kaiju action.

Now that the sequel has a new director, we can expect additional script rewrites. Universal plans to release Pacific Rim 2 worldwide in 3D, but as of right now a release date has not been set.