Steven S. DeKnight Selected to Direct Guillermo's Sequel 'Pacific Rim 2'

This is a bit of a surprise considering we thought a sequel was on hold, but good news for those anxiously awaiting the next Pacific Rim movie. Deadline is reporting that Legendary Pictures has found a new director to take on the fantasy sci-fi action sequel Pacific Rim 2, leaving Gullermo del Toro free to work on other projects while the movie is still being made. The production company has hired Steven S. DeKnight to make his feature directing debut after creating the show "Spartacus" and working on other TV shows prior, including recently executive producing and writing for Marvel's "Daredevil" on Netflix. Del Toro confirmed the news on his Twitter, saying he met with DeKnight and they are on the same page as for what to expect.

Here are the tweets from Guillermo del Toro after the news first hit - discussing DeKnight's involvement:

Met w DeKnight and we are all so happy with our choice to take Pac Rim 2to where we know it can go!!

— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) February 24, 2016

Now Pac Rim is a known property and we can expand big!

— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) February 24, 2016

More news soon! But- as I said a few weeks ago: this is happening and the ideas we have are great!! Buenas noches from Toronto…

— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) February 24, 2016

Dream of Kaijus and Mecha!!

— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) February 24, 2016

As of 2014, Guillermo seemed excited about the sequel, saying that "we found a way to twist it around", adding that they're "going for very new, very crazy ideas on the second one, which are very different from the first one — but you will get really great spectacle." However, with King Kong vs Godzilla coming down the line, everyone expected Legendary to put Pacific Rim 2 on hold - not to mention Guillermo already has so much on his plate. Glad to hear it's back up and running and here's more good news - the latest draft of the screenplay for this sequel is written by Jon Spaihts (Prometheus, Passengers, Doctor Strange) based on characters created by Travis Beacham and GdT. IMDb still lists the title as Pacific Rim: Maelstrom, though that may change, with an expected release in March 2018. We'll be watching for any more updates.