Pacific Rim type Movie

Fans of skyscraper-size biped tank-robots received devastating news this week, with The Hollywood Reporter claiming that Universal had delayed the sequel to Pacific Rim indefinitely. The sequel — which had the working title Pacific Rim: Maelstrom, even though Maelstrom: A Pacific Rim Story would be trendier — was pegged by THR as the victim of a larger shakeup involving the Godzilla and King Kong franchises (to say nothing of the the Godzilla-sized egos behind-the-scenes.) Pacific Rim just barely squeaked over $100 million domestically, but it made over $400 million in total global profits and grossed $111 million in China alone. Those are either incredible numbers or mildly unimpressive numbers, depending on how important Hollywood thinks China is this week.

But at least one person thinks the Pacific Rim sequel is still happening. “We are still turning in a screenplay and a budget in three weeks,” writer-director Guillermo Del Toro tells EW. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s not gone. We’re still on it.”

Del Toro says the film’s delay is only temporary. “It moved further,” he says. “I may do another movie in the middle.”

Del Toro is no stranger to long-delayed passion-project blockbusters. “I can tell you this, if I was a billionaire, I would definitely do Hellboy 3, Pacific Rim 2, and At the Mountains of Madness.” He laughs. “And I would quickly become a millionaire.”

Since Pacific Rim is a film about giant god-creatures battling like natural disasters through cityscapes, and since this all began when the King Kong franchise moved to Warner Bros to set up a King Kong/Godzilla showdown film, we felt it mandatory to ask Del Toro if he had a favorite in a Kong vs. Godzilla showdown. “Even when I was a 10-year-old geek, I never engaged in those things,” he said. “I would like them both to win, and come over to my house for dinner.”