2013’s ‘Pacific Rim’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
Preview:
- A ‘Pacific Rim’ prequel series in in development.
- ‘Arrival’ writer Eric Heisserer is overseeing the new show.
- ‘Pacific’ producer Legendary Entertainment is providing the backing.
Prequels are still something studios and TV companies like to explore, even though some fans have trouble finding out fresh details about the characters and concepts they like (see as a prime example the ‘Star Wars’ prequels).
Still, the lure of finding a new way into existing titles is strong, and Legendary is looking to keep the prequel party going, commissioning an origin story for its ‘Pacific Rim’ movies from writer/producer Eric Heisserer.
What’s the story of ‘Pacific Rim’?
2013’s ‘Pacific Rim’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
In Guillermo del Toro’s original movie, co-written by the director and Travis Beacham, an inter-dimensional rift opens at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, allowing massive monsters to enter our world and begin attacking humanity. In response, humans begin constructing giant fighting robots called Jaegers.
The movie starred Charlie Hunnam and Idris Elba as two of the humans leading the fight against the giant beasties.
It was a success at the box office, earning $400 million at the worldwide box office and spawned a sequel called ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ in 2018, directed by Steven S. DeKnight and featuring John Boyega as the son of Elba’s character alongside Cailee Spaeny and Scott Eastwood.
That one didn’t have quite the same impact, earning a more muted $298 million globally.
Since then, there has also been two seasons of a spin-off TV series on Netflix called ‘Pacific Rim: The Black’ with two seasons launching in 2021 and 2022.
Related Article: Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro Talks ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio’
What else has Eric Heisserer worked on?
Amy Adams in ‘Arrival’. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
Heisserer is that rare screenwriter whose name is becoming more known outside of geeky film circles because of his work.
He notched an Academy Award nomination for best adapted screenplay for the film ‘Arrival’ in 2017.
His other movie writing credits include the hit Netflix film ‘Bird Box’ as well as ‘Lights Out,’ ‘Hours; (which he also directed), ‘Bloodshot,’ and the 2010 remake of ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street.’
As a writer/producer, he developed the Netflix series version of ‘Shadow and Bone’ based on the Grishaverse YA novels. It ran for two seasons.
Here’s what Jason Clodfelter, president of Legendary Television had to say about Heisserer:
“Eric is a multitalented, prolific creator whose track record of critical and commercial successes speaks for itself. We are thrilled to launch our partnership with Eric, Chronology, and Carmen, with a new entry in the epic, globally popular ‘Pacific Rim’ universe. We are certain their vision will make for an enthralling expansion to Legendary’s beloved franchise.”
When will the ‘Pacific Rim’ prequel series be on screens?
It’s far too early to speculate on that front –– the show is in the very early stages of development, with no word on a company picking it up for production and distribution yet. We’d imagine Netflix will at least be interested –– since it carried the spin-off and has worked with Heisserer in the past, but there is no information on that at this time.
2013’s ‘Pacific Rim’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.