Guillermo Del Toro Addresses 'Pacific Rim 2' Delay: "As Far As I'm Concerned, It's Not Gone"

If Universal really is canceling the apocalypse, someone forgot to tell director Guillermo del Toro. Earlier this week we got the very discouraging news that Pacific Rim 2 had been "halted indefinitely," and quite possibly scrapped altogether. But del Toro insists it's still on. "As far as I'm concerned, it's not gone," he said. Read the Guillermo del Toro Pacific Rim 2 comments after the jump. 

Del Toro responded to the Pacific Rim 2 delay news in a chat with EW. "We are still turning in a screenplay and a budget in three weeks," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, it's not gone. We're still on it." According to him, it's just a delay. "It moved further," he said. "I may do another movie in the middle."

According to THR's earlier story, Universal was getting cold feet about Pacific Rim 2, as the original was "one of those films that grosses a lot ($411 million worldwide) while being so costly that a follow-up isn't a sure thing." Indeed, it made just over $101 million domestically on a $190 million production budget. But it did well overseas, particularly in that all-important Chinese market, which is the only reason a sequel was considered even a remote possibility.

Del Toro had started making plans for Pacific Rim 2 (working title: Maelstrom) before the first one even hit theaters. Several characters from the first film are expected back, including those played by Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, and Burn Gorman, but it's said to be a "very different" type of movie.

Fans of del Toro know this is far from the first time that one of his passion projects has been shoved aside. But del Toro being del Toro, he has a pretty good sense of humor about it. "I can tell you this, if I was a billionaire, I would definitely do Hellboy 3, Pacific Rim 2, and At the Mountains of Madness." He continued, laughing: "And I would quickly become a millionaire."