I am Pentecost
2018#PacificRimUprising pic.twitter.com/36BEwIVRVD— John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) February 7, 2017
John Boyega shared the above tweet and photo late last night.
The young actor leads Legendary Pictures’ upcoming sequel to “Pacific Rim,” which Steven S. DeKnight is directing.
To be titled “Pacific Rim: Uprising,” this second film in the franchise created by Guillermo del Toro (who directed the first film) and Travis Beacham, will see Boyega play the son of the character that Idris Elba played in the original 2013 film, which grossed $411 million worldwide ($300 million was from overseas).
It’s currently set for a February 23, 2018 release – one week after Marvel’s “Black Panther” (it’s currently set to open on February 16). Needless to say, February 2018 is going to be a big month, especially for black audiences anticipating both high-profile, big budget films, each starring black actors. Of course it also happens to be Black History Month.
Interesting though that the studios behind both films (Disney and Universal) aren’t budging in terms of release dates – at least, not yet. Typically, executives like to avoid this kind of competitive collision. And both films certainly have wide appeal, beyond black audiences. So February 2018 will feel more like a summer month, when films like these are typically unleashed, week after week.
“Black Panther,” which only recently started filming, has already seen its release date moved up once, while “Pacific Rim: Uprising” was scheduled to wrap up filming in early 2017.
February 2018 can’t come fast enough; I’m looking forward to seeing how all this shakes out in the end for both titles. Also, keep in mind that, the weekend after “Pacific Rim: Uprising” opens in theaters, there’s currently an “Untitled Fox / Marvel Film” scheduled to be released, although we still don’t know what that is at this time. Whatever it is, would likely have to be filming right about now (or very soon), to be ready by March 2, 2018, given how much post-production work typically has to be done with these films.
But get ready for a busy February 2018 for black heroes ((super and otherwise)! Unless of course there’s a date change for either film before then. The winter months are starting to look like summer months at the movies.
The plot for “Pacific Rim: Uprising” has been kept under wraps for the most part. We know that Boeyga is playing the son of the character Idris Elba played in the first film, which was set in the future, with Earth at war with the Kaiju – monsters which have emerged from an interdimensional portal on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. To combat the monsters, humanity unites to create the Jaegers, gigantic humanoid machines, each controlled by at least two pilots, whose minds are joined.
Thomas Tull, Mary Parent, Jon Jashni, and del Toro are producing the action adventure film along with Boyega and Femi Oguns under their Upper Room Productions shingle.
Said del Toro previously: “I am very proud and happy to welcome John into a fantastic sandbox. The ‘Pacific Rim’ universe will be reinforced with him as a leading man as it continues to be a multicultural, multi-layered world. ‘The World saving the world’ was our goal and I couldn’t think of a better man for the job.”
Boyega, who is also a producer on “Pacific Rim: Uprising,” will next be seen with Tom Hanks and Emma Watson in “The Circle,” which hits theaters in April.
He is repped by WME and Identity Agency Group in the UK and Hansen Jacobson.
Check out more pics from the “Pacific Rim: Uprising” set below:
