‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ Will Rise Up One Month Later Than Announced

As Guillermo del Toro prepares for the unveiling of his latest film The Shape of Water at the Toronto International Film Festival, his orphaned triumph Pacific Rim has taken on a life all its own. The esteemed filmmaker has long since parted ways with the fledgling kaiju franchise, ceding the directorial reins to TV’s Steven DeKnight, who will work with a new handful of cast members as well. (John Boyega and Scott Eastwood represent the two highest-profile additions to the cast.) With set photos steadily trickling in and a trailer release all but imminent, it would appear all systems are go for Pacific Rim: Uprising. But a new report today has alerted the public to a small hiccup in the film‘s release.

Deadline ran an item last night announcing that Legendary has pushed the long-awaited Pacific Rim sequel back one month, from its original date of February 23 to March 23. The intention behind the move is a tad puzzling, however. When a studio makes such a minor shift in a release date, it’s for one of a small number of reasons: the creative parties have requested a little more time to work, the studio doesn’t want to compete with another release scheduled for the same weekend, or executives have seen the finished cut of the film and want some time to re-edit. With production still up and running, we can safely assume that Legendary higher-ups have not yet resolved to tamper with DeKnight’s footage, and Deadline’s item states that the film has now actually moved into conflict, leaving a vacant weekend to open against the Jamie Foxx vehicle Robin Hood.

Sounds like DeKnight and Co. are just taking their sweet time with shooting, and why shouldn’t they? If another month of production is what it takes to get this film ready for comparisons with its predecessor, go right ahead, by all means.