‘Spartacus’ Creator, Steven S. DeKnight, To Direct ‘Pacific Rim 2’

Steven S. DeKnight, the creator of Starz’ Spartacus, has been brought in to direct Pacific Rim 2. Until now, it was believed that Guillermo del Toro would return to direct but there were some concerns about the movie being pushed back because of the amount of projects del Toro is juggling. It seems that those concerns have been solved by DeKnight.

This will be DeKnight’s feature directorial debut. DeKnight has mostly done work in television as a writer, director and producer for big names such as Joss Whedon‘s major works (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Dollhouse), as well as Smallville. He most recently worked as executive producer and head writer of Marvel’s Daredevil.

The current script is written by Jon Spaihts based on the characters created by del Toro and Travis Beacham in the 2013 action-adventure film. Producing will be Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, del Toro, and Mary Parent, with Jillian Share as executive producer.

The 2013 film grossed $411 million worldwide with 75% of the money coming from overseas, $111 million coming from China alone.

Pacific Rim 2 has the release date of August 4, 2017 (after being pushed from April 7). Universal Studios has stated that they are “committed to having ‘Pacific Rim 2’ ” and that the delay was so the “creative team can continue in its efforts to exceed the amazing experience of the first film.”