By Rudie Obias | 7 years ago

While it’s unclear whether or not Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures might eventually greenlight a sequel to this past summer’s Pacific Rim, director Guillermo del Toro and screenwriter Travis Beacham are already working on the sequel’s screenplay. Although Pacific Rim received a mixed critical response and a mild box office reception in the United States, the giant robots vs. giant sea monsters flick was a big dumb hit elsewhere in the world, namely in China and Japan. Now an actor from Pacific Rim is shedding some light on the would-be sequel’s direction.

In an interview with Empire Magazine, actor Max Martini, who played the character Hercules “Herc” Hansen and was named “Badass of the Year” by the British magazine, opened up about the Pacific Rim sequel. The original Pacific Rim ended on a pretty decisive note, so many had been wondering what a sequel would entail. Apparently, might be a prequel instead. Martini says:

It’s funny, I fell in love with this character (Herc Hansen). The key component was this relationship I had with my son, exploring the dysfunction and the loss, so where does Herc go from here? I don’t know. It’ll be interesting to see where Guillermo (del Toro) and Travis Beacham take it. I don’t know if it’s a prequel or a sequel, but if it’s a prequel you’ll learn more about Herc’s family history. But Guillermo has such a vivid imagination, it could go anywhere.

A Pacific Rim prequel would make more sense than a sequel. Del Toro established a vast mythology in the film’s prologue sequence, so it would be more interesting to see how humanity first started to build Jaegers and how the world came together to fight the alien Kaiju. It doesn’t seem that there would be any more adventures to tell after the end of Pacific Rim. However, del Toro has hinted that another Pacific Rim movie might include even bigger Jaegers and Kaiju, as well as a melding of both beasts into one big monstrosity. So maybe we’ll get a sequel after all.

Del Toro’s film was popular enough with audiences around the world that Legendary Pictures might officially green light a sequel film soon. Pacific Rim grossed $407.6 million worldwide, against a production budget of $190 million. There’s also Pacific Rim‘s home video numbers to consider, but while it seems like a profitable film, Pacific Rim needed to make more money to be considered a breakthrough hit.

Del Toro is currently working on the upcoming gothic romance horror film Crimson Peak, which stars Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, and Charlie Hunnam. It’s due in theaters sometime in April 2015.

Pacific Rim is now available on Blu-ray/DVD and as a digital download. Hopefully, it will be available on Netflix Streaming soon.