After months of speculation, a sequel to Pacific Rim 2 is confirmed -- and it even has a release date.

April 7, 2017, has been set for the arrival of the film, which Guillermo del Toro will return to direct from a screenplay by del Toro and Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand). The movie will be released by Universal Studios in 3D and IMAX 3D.

Del Toro made the news official himself in a short video clip recorded in Toronto (see below), where he is finishing up his 2015 haunted-house movie, Crimson Peak. He revealed that in addition to working with Penn and original Pacific Rim writer Travis Beacham on the new film, they are also developing an animated series and comic books.

There's no word on which cast members will return, but Del Toro told Buzzfeed (via Slashfilm):

The characters I love will return. Raleigh, Mako, Newt, Gottlieb and who knows, maybe even Hannibal Chau -- but we are taking them into a fresh territory that will display amazing sights and battles. The first film set the stage and now we’re ready to have a blast.

The first Pacific Rim was not a tremendous success in the U.S., where its box office topped out at $101 million, but it raked in another $309 million overseas, enough to convince Legendary Pictures (which funded the original) and its new distribution partner, Universal, that there was interest enough in del Toro's world of kaiju and Jaeger robots to continue the story.

Are you happy that Pacific Rim 2 is happening? Where you would like to see del Toro take the tale next?