The monster movie is starting to make its comeback and this summer's blockbuster Pacific Rim, directed by Guillermo del Toro, was the first to make a big splash.
The first trailer for the Giant Monsters vs. Giant Robots epic practically broke the internet after it was released earlier this year. The footage was originally intended just for viewing at WonderCon, but due to demand, del Toro decided to green light its release.
Despite mostly positive reviews from both critics and audiences, Pacific Rim opened to luke warm numbers last month in North America. Since it's release on July 12th, it has made just over 98.5 million - well under expectations.
It was a different story overseas, which saw the film dominate the international box office for weeks. To date it has earned 286 million, bringing it's total gross to just under 385 million. The budget for the film production was 190 million.
Even before its release there was a lot of buzz about a possible sequel; de Toro has said that he and his team are already hard at work on a sequel. Speaking with moviepilot.com, he said:
*WARNING - SPOLIERS*
“I’ll tell you a couple of things, we will have Gipsy 2.0 for sure. Second thing is you’re gonna see a merging of Kaiju and Jaeger. And that is quite special. Just think about it for a second. We sent Gipsy to the other side, right? It exploded, but whatever remains stays there. The main idea that we’re bouncing off is the fact that Newt drifted with a Kaiju brain, and all Kaiju brains are connected. We say that. They are like a hive mentality. So, you know, draw your own conclusions. We’ve drifted with a Kaiju brain. Well, then start riffing on that and you’ll get to something.”
The last major opening for Pacific Rim happened earlier this month in China, and the box office earnings may have the power to tip the scales in the favour of a sequel. Reports from earlier this week show that the movie has made over 104 million since its opening on July 31st. It's the second highest grossing US film, behind only Transformers 3.
If details of a sequel are announced, expect a few years before we see it - likely a 2016 release date (and we'll have the news for you as soon as we find out!). Fans don't have long to wait to see the next giant monster movie - the newest installment of Godzilla starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick Ass) and Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) is set to hit theatres in both 2D and 3D on May 16th, 2014.
Twitter: @Stepherland