Guillermo del Toro is an iconic director known for movies like Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, and, Pinocchio. Back in 2013, del Toro released one of his most iconic movies that printed millions at the global box office.
Talking about the 2013 film titled Pacific Rim, Guillermo del Toro revealed in an interview that he was inspired by two events crossing. With inspiration from Gene Hackman and Tom Cruise’s Top Gun, del Toro was able to create the 2013 masterpiece.
Guillermo del Toro Was Inspired By Gene Hackman And Top Gun
Known for his monstrosities and movies that deal with the horror side of the world, del Toro has often been regarded as one of the best horror directors out there. Dipping his toes in the world of science fiction, Guillermo del Toro created the 2013 masterpiece Pacific Rim.
With an intriguing storyline of fighting sea monsters with a special weapon that they have got, Charlie Hunnam and Idris Elba shine in the lead role of the film. In an interview with Collider, del Toro talked about how the film had almost included Tom Cruise in the cast and his inspirations for the 2013 film were Gene Hackman and the 1986 film Top Gun.
“The two models for Pacific Rim, the two models for the screenplay, are Hoosiers with Gene Hackman and Top Gun. The part that Idris Elba plays, Tom Cruise was gonna do it, and I even had a karaoke.”
He further continued,
“The deal couldn’t be made. He wanted to do it. We were developing stuff, and he couldn’t do it. I thought: ‘You know what? Let’s go with Idris Elba then. He’s a god’. Obviously, I had to rewrite it for that, but I thought it was gonna be an interesting analog to do that. It would have been a lot of fun.”
Although he had a lot of fun creating the 2013 movie, Guillermo del Toro walked out of the sequel Pacific Rim Uprising for a very ridiculous reason.
Why did Guillermo del Toro leave Pacific Rim Uprising?
With Pacific Rim earning millions at the global box office, a sequel was bound to be made. Guillermo del Toro was indeed attached to the project but one day simply left the sets of the 2018 movie. In an interview with Collider, the director revealed that the studio made one small mistake which cost them Guillermo del Toro.
“Then what happened is — I mean, this is why life’s crazy, right? — they had to give a deposit for the stages at 5pm or we would lose the stages in Toronto for many months. So, I said, ‘Don’t forget we’re gonna lose the stages,’ and five o’clock came and went, and we lost the stages.”
He further continued,
They said, ‘Well, we can shoot it in China.’ And I go, ‘What do you mean we?’ [Laughs] ‘I’ve gotta go do ‘Shape of Water.’”
With del Toro at the helm of the film, Pacific Rim received a rating of 6.9/10 on IMDB and 72% on Rotten Tomatoes. The 2013 movie is available to rent on Apple TV+ in the U.S.
