This should come as no surprise, considering that John Boyega has already been announced as the lead in ‘Pacific Rim: Maelstrom’ the sequel to Guillermo del Toro’s 2013 sci fi romp which pitted humans piloting giant mechanical sentinels called Jaegers against a horde of invading monsters called Kaiju. But Charlie Hunnam is confirmed to NOT be returning for the sequel. Also not returning is del Toro, who has handed the reigns over to Steven S. DeKnight, the showrunner on Netflix’s hit ‘Daredevil’.
Almost a year ago, del Toro insisted that Hunnam, who played Raleigh Beckett, would also star in ‘Maelstrom’, stating:
“No, no, no, Charlie Day has a great part but so does Charlie Hunnam. I think that everybody or most everybody that survived is back. The rest we killed. We killed half the cast.”
But with production constantly being delayed on the project, in part because of del Toro’s busy schedule, Hunnam has long been rumored to have walked away from the project. He confirmed the exit himself, at SDCC, but added:
“I’m very excited about it. I’m glad they’re making it.”
Boyega will play the son of Stacker Pentacost, Idris Elba’s character in the first movie, and was killed. Ron Perlman and Max Martini are rumored to be returning as their characters Hannibal Chau and Herc Hansen. (These are the best names ever, by the way.) Reportedly, Scott Eastwood is in talks to join the sequel as well.
‘Pacific Rim’ was intended to kickstart a franchise, but it got lost in the shuffle of the domestic summer box office back in 2013, but thanks to foreign ticket sales, $111M of which came from China, Warner Brothers okayed a follow-up. But the project hit several delays.
Hunnam was last seen on the big screen in another del Toro project (which also flopped) ‘Crimson Peak’. He will next be seen in next March’s ‘King Arthur: Legend of the Sword’ directed by Guy Ritchie.
Are you upset that Raleigh Beckett won’t be in the sequel?
Source: Collider
