Legendary Pictures confirmed the casting of the former Stormtrooper!
[dropcap size=small]G[/dropcap]uillermo Del Toro has finally found his guy for the lead role in Pacific Rim 2! Former Stormtrooper John Boyega has agreed to join the cast as the lead role as the son of Idrisa Elba’s character, who starred in the first one. Del Toro commented on the casting of Boyega:
“I am very proud and happy to welcome John into a fantastic sandbox. The Pacific Rim universe will be reinforced with him as a leading man as it continues to be a multicultural, multi-layered world. ‘The World saving the world’ was our goal and I couldn’t think of a better man for the job.”
Boyega’s best performance came in Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens, but he’s also had breakout performances in Attack the Block, The Circle with Emma Watson and Tom Hanks. Boyega was also featured in an animated BBC miniseries called Watership Down with stars James McAvoy and Ben Kingsley co-starring the series.
Pacific Rim 2 producer Mary Parent complimented Boyega for the work he has put forth so far and what he will offer in the future.
“It is undeniable that with all his talent and natural charm, John stands out amongst today’s generation of young leading men,”
Along with Parent, Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni and del Toro will produce the movie. Steven S. DeKnight will direct the movie and Cale Boyter is the executive producer.
The first Pacific Rim movie netted $411 million worldwide, but del Toro will look to surpass that number with this sequel. Universal will release the movie worldwide, except for China.
Pacific Rim was a great movie and when a movie gets good reviews, the pressure is on for the sequel. Signing Boyega on for the lead role was a big step for this movie to become very successful. The fact that del Toro is sticking to the Pacific Rim series as a “multicultural, multi-layered world” is encouraging, especially for the fans who liked the first one. Hopefully Boyega’s character has as good of a shot as Finn did (in Star Wars VII.)
Pacific Rim 2 is expected to start filming sometime late in 2016! Are you excited for John Boyega’s new role? Let us know in the comments below!
