There are still eight months to go before the sequel to Pacific Rim hits theaters, but we already have our first Pacific Rim Uprising teaser trailer.
Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures released the teaser as part of the studios’ presence at Comic-Con International in San Diego, which kicked off this week. The preview was accompanied by the launch of the film’s interactive website at GoJaeger.com.
Little is known about the sequel to 2013’s Pacific Rim, which pitted massive, human-piloted robots against giant monsters emerging from the depths of the ocean. The Comic-Con teaser doesn’t offer much in the way of new information, but it does provide a peek at some of the robots — otherwise known as “Jaegers” — that will make their debut in Uprising.
Initially titled Pacific Rim: Maelstrom, the film currently titled Pacific Rim Uprising has had a bit of a rocky road to the screen, as the original film’s lackluster box office raised some questions about whether a sequel was justified. The project moved forward, though, and arrives on the screen in February 2018 with director Steven S. DeKnight (Marvel’s Daredevil series) behind the camera.
The story in Uprising is expected to unfold in the aftermath of the events of the 2013 film, which saw Jaeger pilots played by Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, and Robert Kazinsky successfully close the oceanic breach that allowed the monstrous “Kaiju” to enter Earth. Star Wars: The Force Awakens actor John Boyega is rumored to play the son of Elba’s character, Stacker Pentecost, in Uprising.
Boyega leads an international cast for Uprising that also includes Scott Eastwood (The Fate of the Furious), Jing Tian (The Great Wall), Wesley Wong (Buxiude Shiguang), Lily Ji (Transformers: Age of Extinction), Lan Yingying (Empresses in the Palace), Qian Yongchen (The War of Beauties), and Zhang Jin (Ip Man 3).
While the trailer itself doesn’t offer many details, the film’s interactive website has some new information about both the film and the latest Jaegers. The site’s timeline for the world of Pacific Rim confirms that Uprising is set 10 years after “The Battle of the Breach.”
“Vindicated by the victory at the Breach, the Jaeger program has evolved into the most powerful global defense force in human history,” reads the site’s timeline. “The PPDC now calls upon the best and brightest to rise up and become the next generation of heroes. When the Kaiju threat returns, we will be ready.”
The site also confirms that the Jaeger appearing near the end of the teaser, piloted by Boyega’s character, is indeed the next evolution of one of the first film’s ‘bots. The Jaegers identified on the site include Gipsy Avenger, which “honors the heroic legacy of her namesake as the flagship leader of the Mark VI fleet. More than just a Jaeger, she is a symbol of hope to millions.”
Pacific Rim Uprising is scheduled to arrive in standard, 3D, and IMAX 3D theaters February 23.
Update: We’ve updated the title of the film to “Pacific Rim Uprising” (rather than “Pacific Rim: Uprising”) to reflect the new, official title for the movie.