After talented cinnamon roll Guillermo del Toro stepped down as director of Pacific Rim 2 following numerous studio delays last year,  Daredevil‘s Season 1 showrunner Steven DeKnight took over at the helm. Now, screenwriter Derek Connolly, known for his work on Jurassic World and Safety Not Guaranteed (and soon to collaborate again with Colin Trevorrow on Star Wars: Episode IX), is taking a crack at the script.
The Hollywood Reporter writes that “drafts have already been worked by del Toro, Zak Penn and Jon Spaihts, and while plot details are being kept under wraps, at one point it was to have been set many years after the original movie and where the monster-fighting robot suits known as Jaegers have become commonplace.”
I’m happy and frankly shocked that Pacific Rim 2 is happening at all, but I’m preparing myself for a sequel that might lack some of the heart of the original. I think it’ll still be an immensely fun movie—very few movies about robots punching monsters aren’t fun, I find, and Connolly and DeKnight have shown they know how to put together awesome action sequences—I just worry it’s going to be lacking the understanding and empathy for its characters that made Pacific Rim so special.
I don’t think it’s fair to judge Connolly off of one movie, but I really resented the way women were depicted in Jurassic World, so I hope he treats Mako (if she’s actually returning for the sequel, that is) with the utmost respect. Again, though, JW was just one film out of Connolly’s rapidly-expanding body of work, so I’m tentatively optimistic. Guillermo del Toro is also still on board as producer, so it’s not as if his touch has totally left the project.
Time will tell!
(via Collider)
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