There comes a time in your life when your name is John Boyega, your most prolific role to date was the billion dollar smash hit sci-fi, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and you’re suddenly a household name that studios are now paying attention to. Well, for this young actor, things are once again booming now that he’s well onto the forthcoming sequel which opens next year reprising his role and piling up on other prospects with word that the actor, via his own Twitter account is set to lead the cast of Pacific Rim 2.
I’ll be taking on the Pacific Rim franchise with Steven S.Deknight directing. Very excited!— John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) June 6, 2016
Deadline writes Boyega will play the son of the commanding officer role, Stacker Pentecost, played by Idris Elba in the 2013 movie. Directed by Blade 2 and Hellboy franchise helmer Guillermo Del Toro, the film, which follows post-apocalyptic story of epic battles highlighting mankind’s survival and subsequent uprising in the wake of a spate of attacks from interdimensional monsters from deep sea portals through Earth, wasn’t a hugely convincing sell for the studio despite earning well over $410 million dollars at the global box office. Del Toro, formerly at the helm as of last year, is producing the sequel instead with Netflix series Daredevil – Season One showrunner Steven DeKnight making his directorial debut as of February.
The numerous stops and starts on this sequel in the last few years have taken precedence to the point where Legendary Pictures even moved it off of their release schedule while the film itself maintained its development status in the public eye. Charlie Hunnam and Kikuchi Rinko are just a few of the original cast members previously expected to turn, but now we await further details nonetheless with Boyega officially leading and an official production start and release date pending.