Now that a November start date has officially been set, Legendary Pictures is fast assembling an entourage of talent in time for Pacific Rim 2 lumbering in front of the cameras. Throughout the summer, the likes of Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, Levi Meaden and Tian Jing have all climbed aboard Steven S. DeKnight’s blockbuster sequel. Buried beneath that casting spree was confirmation that Charlie Hunnam had disembarked, handing over leading man duties to The Force Awakens alum John Boyega.
We now have word of that casting process beginning to reach its crescendo, with Deadline reporting that Adria Arjona of Emerald City fame has landed a mysterious role in the Jaegers vs. Kaiju follow-up. That’s a veil of secrecy that extends to practically all of the new cast members, though we do understand Boyega will take point as son to Idris Elba’s apocalypse-cancelling Stacker Pentecost.
Building upon the colossal foundations laid by Travis Beacham and Guillermo del Toro – the latter is only attached to Pacific Rim 2 in a producing capacity, having vacated the director’s chair earlier in the year – little is currently known about the core premise of Legendary’s continuation, other than the fact that Jurassic World screenwriter Derek Connolly penned the most recent draft. After lingering dangerously close to cancellation, many fans are simply overjoyed that Pacific Rim 2 is actually a thing, though we can expect some firm details to emerge once those cameras start rolling.
Rumored to be titled Maelstrom, Pacific Rim 2 will stomp into theaters on February 28, 2018. DeKnight’s long-gestating sequel will lens across Australia and parts of China come November. As for Arjona, look for the up-and-comer to feature across The Belko Experiment and Life Of The Party in the coming weeks and months.