Actress joins male lead John Boyega in February 2018 sequel film

The entertainment industry magazine Variety reported on Thursday that actress and singer Cailee Spaeny ( Counting to 1,000 ) will play the lead female role in Pacific Rim 2 , the planned sequel to Guillermo del Toro and Travis Beacham's 2013 science-fiction robot film.

The film will debut in theaters on February 23, 2018.

Steven S. DeKnight, showrunner and director on Netflix 's Daredevil series, will direct the film. Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, Mary Parent , and del Toro are credited as producers, and Jillian Share is credited as executive producer for the film. Jon Spaihts wrote the current script attached to the film, and Jurassic World writer Derek Connolly is also on the production team for the film. Universal Pictures will release the film in 3D worldwide.

John Boyega ( Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Finn) will play the lead role in the film as the son of Idris Elba's Stacker Pentecost character from the first film. As of July, The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog reported that Suicide Squad actor Scott Eastwood was in early talks to join the film. Variety reports that Eastwood is has been cast.

Creator del Toro previously posted on his Twitter account in January that production on the sequel to his Pacific Rim film is "still going," and that he will "remain w [sic] it in one way or another!" He had submitted the script and budget for the film last November.

Universal previously removed the film from its release schedule, but insisted with Legendary Entertainment last September that it remains committed to making the film. The sequel had been slated for August 2017, after previously being planned for April 2017.

Sources: Variety (Justin Kroll) via The Tokusatsu Network