Pacific Rim: Eric Heisserer to Develop New Prequel Series
Legendary Entertainment has tapped Eric Heisserer to helm a new venture into the Pacific Rim franchise.
On August 19, Variety reported that Legendary Entertainment signed a first-look television deal with Heisserer. Legendary is one of the largest production companies in the industry, responsible for the financing of blockbuster hits such as Dune and the Monsterverse franchise. In addition, it produced the two theatrically released Pacific Rim films. Now, Heisserer will helm a prequel television series set in the Pacific Rim universe.
A #PacificRim origins / prequel TV series is in development! https://t.co/nUCV7ysAQG
— Pacific Rim (@PacificRimMovie) August 20, 2024
However, this is not the only project the filmmaker will develop for Legendary. The article specifies that this prequel is just the first project in the overall deal. In addition, the agreement will include many more projects driven by IP, a precious commodity in Hollywood.
Heisserer is a well-regarded writer in the industry. He is perhaps best known for the film Arrival, for which he earned a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination. Since then, he has written the film Bird Box for Netflix and created the series Shadow and Bone. Though Netflix canceled the series after two seasons, it enjoyed a positive reception and helped further establish his name in the industry.
Pacific Rim is a franchise created in 2013 by director Guillermo Del Toro, whose last film, Pinnochio, took home an Academy Award. The franchise serves as an homage to Japanese monster movies and mecha anime. It revolves around the battles between monstrous “Kaiju” that emerge from a crack in the Earth and human-piloted “Jaegers.” Though the last film in the series failed, an animated series released on Netflix has kept the franchise relevant.
Unfortunately, Del Toro himself is not joining this new series, which might upset some fans who preferred what he brought to the franchise. However, we will simply have to wait and see what the end result is.
You can watch Pacific Rim: The Black, the most recent entry in the franchise, on Netflix.
