'Pacific Rim 2' Cast & Release Date: Guillermo del Toro's Film Gets This Title for Production

A production start date was revealed regarding Guillermo del Toro's sequel for the science fiction monster-action film, "Pacific Rim."

As per Birth.Movies.Death, "Pacific Rim 2" will start production in Toronto, Canada's Pinewood Studios. The film's working title will be "Maelstrom," which sticks to the franchise's water theme. The original flick had "Still Seas" as its working title when it was still in production.

At this year's San Diego Comic-Con, while promoting his gothic horror film titled "Crimson Peak," del Toro announced that "Pacific Rim 2" will kick off "a few years after the original and focuses on the Kaiju," Global News reported.

There's no word yet whether Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, and Burn Gorman will be back for the follow-up to reprise their respective roles, Global News noted. Del Toro will once again pen the screenplay for the flick alongside Travis Beacham and Zak Penn ("X-Men: The Last Stand.") "Pacific Rim 2" is expected to debut in theaters on August 4, 2017.

Del Toro previously departed from Warner Bros' "Justice League Dark" because of a scheduling conflict with "Pacific Rim 2." Given that the latter is the Mexican filmmaker's own work, it's not surprising that he chose to prioritize the sequel, SlashFilm pointed out.

"Pacific Rim" was shot in Toronto from Nov. 2011 until April 2012, with a budget nearing $200 million, Global News noted. The film, which also starred Idris Elba, Ron Perlman, Robert Kazinsky, and Max Martini, debuted in theaters in July 2013 and earned $411 million globally.

Guillermo del Toro's 'Crimson Peak'

Del Toro's "Crimson Peak," which premieres in theaters on Oct. 16, promises to liberate gender roles and feature powerful women characters.

The upcoming film is set in 1901 in Buffalo, New York, a time when the battle for women's rights is at its crest, Time reported. Edith, Mia Wasikowska's character, is a woman who wishes to be taken seriously as a writer, refuses to fall in love, but falls in love in an unusual way. Edith moves to her husband's England manor, a decaying home plagued with dark secrets, MTV wrote.

Del Toro, 50, explained that the movie will feature Edith as "a more powerful character" as the story progresses, Time noted. Lucille (Jessica Chastain) is a character who has "a very different point of view of what it is to be female at that point," the news outlet added.

Aside from directing "Pacific Rim" and "Crimson Peak," del Toro also executive produced "The Strain" and 2013's "Mama," Global News noted. He worked on "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Hellboy" as well.