Guillermo del Toro introduced fans to alien monsters called Kaiju in his sci-fi action Pacific Rim in 2013. The movie sees Kaiju monsters, who emerge from an interdimensional portal, the Breach, attack coastal cities.
To stop the Pacific Ocean monsters, humanity builds robots called Jaegers. In the first chapter, this battle mainly focused on Charlie Hunnam’s Raleigh Becket, one of the most skilled Jaeger pilots in the Pan Pacific Defense Corps’ history. The film proved to be a huge success at the box office, grossing $411 million globally. However, the change of direction for the second installment derailed the momentum Del Toro’s film gained.
Director of Pacific Rim 2 Teases Charlie Hunnam’s Return to the Franchise
Steven S. DeKnight helmed Pacific Rim Uprising in 2018. The story takes place many years after the events of the first film, shedding light on a revitalized Jaeger program with John Boyega‘s Jake Pentecost at the center. Jake tries to live up to his father’s legacy by teaming up with his estranged sister and former co-pilot to stop a new Kaiju threat.
However, the film failed to replicate the success of its predecessor, managing just $290.9 million at the box office. The return of Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, and Burn Gorman didn’t help, as many fans found it hard to show similar enthusiasm for a new lead in Boyega, for whom the void left by Charlie Hunnam proved too big to be filled.
Interestingly, in an interview with Screen Rant in 2018, DeKnight revealed his original plan was to follow Hunnam’s Raleigh Becket in the sequel.
“Absolutely! Charlie Hunnam and I sat down and talked about this movie,” he admitted. “We actually wrote an entire script with Raleigh Becket as the main character. I turned it in. Everybody loved it and the next day it was announced he was doing the remake of Papillon, which shot at the exact same time we were, and I know it was a passion project for Charlie. I love Charlie.”
The filmmaker left the franchise’s door open for Hunnam by adding he’d love to work with him again and there is “definitely” room in the story to bring him back. His return should help the $701 million franchise bring back viewers of the original film on board.
What Charlie Hunnam Said About Potentially Doing Pacific Rim 3
As things stand, there’s no concrete update concerning the development of Pacific Rim 3. However, in the event producers decide to give the green light to the project with Del Toro in the director’s seat, Hunnam would be open to return.
During the promotion of Rebel Moon, the 43-year-old, who’s playing mercenary starship pilot Kai in Zack Snyder’s epic space opera, told Inverse:
“I would do anything that Guillermo was doing. If Guillermo invites me to do Pacific Rim 3, I’ll be there. Or anything else he wants to do.”
At the moment, Del Toro is involved with the adaptation of Frankenstein, which will feature the likes of Andrew Garfield, Oscar Isaac, and Mia Goth.
