Hunham’s schedule conflicted with Legendary Pictures’ schedule, which led to him not returning.
[dropcap size=small]C[/dropcap]harlie Hunham has officially announced that he will not be returning as Jaeger pilot Raleigh Becket in the highly-anticipated sequel to Pacific Rim.
In an interview with MTV, Hunham said “there was definitely an incarnation of this sequel” including pilot Becket, but he wasn’t able to fit it into his schedule.
Hunham stated that the change in ownership at Legendary Pictures, and the decision to get production going as quick as possible to appeal to the Chinese market, played a major role in deciding not to return for the sequel. China’s Wanda Group is calling a majority of the shots, making Pacific Rim 2‘s schedule very hard to make room for and Hunham’s s schedule “was already booked up for a significant period of the time they were going to need.”
In an interview with Yahoo, Hunham said the he “read an early draft” of the movie and it “there was one incarnation of this sequel that involved [him] heavily.” But due to the “very definite schedule” set by the studio, Hunham was forced to leave the sequel before the studio completed their schedule.
Despite not being able to stay with the project, Hunham had good things to say about the sequel, saying that “they’re onto something very exciting” with a sequel that feels “original” and will be “a serious, significant progression” from the first movie.
Pacific Rim 2 is scheduled to be released on February 23, 2018!
