Despite a less than stellar take at the US box office, international numbers for Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim (review) were fairly strong. Thanks to those markets, the film took in a total of $411 million worldwide leading Legendary Pictures to offcially move forward with the sequel.
The announcement was made by del Toro himself via this Youtube video:
In addition to this video, Guillermo spoke with Buzzfeed and had this to say regarding who we should expect to see in Pacific Rim 2:
"The characters I love will return. Raleigh, Mako, Newt, Gottlieb and who knows, maybe even Hannibal Chau – but we are taking them into a fresh territory that will display amazing sights and battles. The first film set the stage and now we’re ready to have a blast."
Pacific Rim 2 is scheduled for April 7, 2017.