Despite a shaky debut in 2013, Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim went on to be one of the most beloved movies of that year. And, truth be told, regardless of how excellent it eventually proved to be, I really can’t blame anybody for doubting it prior to its release.
Although it was made by one of our premiere auteur filmmakers, with a stellar cast of proven actors (including the indispensable Ron Perlman) and jaw-dropping special effects, its marketing didn’t do it any favors. While watching its trailer for the first time, most people seemed to think that it was either a Power Rangers or Transformers sequel.
After that initial disappointment (or, more often, relief) that the movie had nothing to do with those franchises, the nobody seemed to be in the mindset to be sold on an apocalyptic mecha versus kaiju action movie, regardless of how awesome that sounded on paper. It wasn’t until the movie released, and reviews started hitting the internet, that audiences started to pay attention to it as more than the butt of some imagined joke.
But everybody agreed when they finally got around to seeing it that the movie was excellent: far better than it probably should have been, regardless of the talent involved. The film crafted a visually striking word of high-concept action populated with incredible, memorable characters that stood out amidst the usual stock personalities of blockbuster movies.
Sadly, however, Pacific Rim‘s financial success only came later. The movie made back only half of its nearly $200 million budget at the US box office, although it was far better treated by overseas audiences. Hell, it lost out to Grown Ups 2 and Despicable Me 2 in its opening weekend, both of which went to outgross it by sizable margins.
Del Toro is, however, nothing if not doggedly persistent; despite his films’ dubious theatrical receipts, they invariably make their money back in the long haul, well after they’ve been released on home media. Coupled with its unprecedented global success — particularly in the increasingly important Chinese market, where it cleaned up to the tune of $111 million — studio executives realized how much potential there was in what essentially amounted to a big screen version of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots.
Six months out from its release, that film’s sequel seems to have learned from the lackluster marketing approach that the first film took. It’s March 23rd release date should serve it better stateside than its predecessor’s mid-July debut, with considerably less competition from major studio films that, by and large, Americans have proven to be more interested in. And those promotional posters that they’ve just released… nothing short of amazing.
Although we still don’t have a trailer — which will be the real test as to whether its marketing has markedly improved from four years ago — everything about what we have seen at this point promises a bigger, better and altogether more spectacular film than we were treated to the first time around: complete with new Jaegers, Kaiju and, presumably, an epic storyline to match. Hell, just give us more Mako Mori and I’ll be satisfied.
Follow Us
