If there’s one underappreciated truth about filmmaking, it’s that a title is never really set in stone until a film is released. Sometimes a film is shot under an alternate title to avoid scrutiny (see ‘Return of the Jedi’ filming under the title ‘Blue Harvest’), but more often it’s an exercise in branding. Warner, for example, attempted (with mixed success) to rebrand ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ with its “Live. Die. Repeat” tagline ahead of the film’s home video release, and ‘Alien Covenant’,  was originally known as ‘Prometheus 2’. Likewise, it seems that ‘Pacific Rim: Maelstrom’, the long-awaited sequel to the 2013 sleeper hit, has now undergone a title change of its own.

In a recent press release announcing (among other new hires) the naming of Herbert W. Gaines as the production company’s new Executive Vice President of Physical Production, Legendary pictures rather quietly confirmed the new title for the ‘Pacific Rim’ sequel. In addition to the re-titling of ‘Pacific Rim’, the same press release has confirmed a new title for the upcoming sequel to 2014’s ‘Godzilla’. From the press release:

Gaines’ responsibilities will include overseeing production of Legendary’s feature film slate including such highly anticipated projects as ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’, ‘Pokemon’s Detective Pikachu’, and ‘Godzilla: King of Monsters’.

So there you have it. ‘Pacific Rim: Maelstrom’ is now ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’, and ‘Godzilla 2’ is ‘Godzilla: King of Monsters’.

The cast of ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ includes John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, Jing Tian, Levi Meaden, Adria Arjona, and Rahart Adams. The film, directed by Steven S. DeKnight, is scheduled for a February 23, 2018 release date.

No casting announcements have yet been made for Michael Doherty’s ‘Godzilla: King of Monsters’, which is currently slated to begin its theatrical run on March 22, 2019.

Be sure to keep checking in with ScienceFiction.com for more news on ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ and ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ as it becomes available!