Pacific Rim (film)

Pacific Rim
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGuillermo del Toro
Screenplay by
  • Travis Beacham
  • Guillermo del Toro
Story byTravis Beacham
Produced by
  • Guillermo del Toro
  • Thomas Tull
  • Jon Jashni
  • Mary Parent
Starring
CinematographyGuillermo Navarro
Edited by
  • John Gilroy
  • Peter Amundson
Music byRamin Djawadi
Production
companies
  • Legendary Pictures
  • Double Dare You
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • July 1, 2013 (2013-07-01) (Mexico City)
  • July 12, 2013 (2013-07-12) (United States)
Running time
132 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States[2]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$190 million[3]
Box office$411 million[4]

Pacific Rim[a] is a 2013 American monster action film directed by Guillermo del Toro. The first film in the Pacific Rim franchise, it stars Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Robert Kazinsky, Max Martini, and Ron Perlman. The screenplay was written by Travis Beacham and del Toro, from a story by Beacham. The film is set in the future, when Earth is at war with the Kaiju,[b] colossal sea monsters which have emerged from an interdimensional portal on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. To combat the monsters, humanity unites to create the Jaegers,[c] gigantic humanoid mechas, each controlled by two co-pilots whose minds are joined by a mental link. Focusing on the war's later days, the story follows Raleigh Becket, a washed-up Jaeger pilot called out of retirement and teamed with rookie pilot Mako Mori as part of a last-ditch effort to defeat the Kaiju.

Principal photography began on November 14, 2011, in Toronto and lasted through to April 2012. The film was produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. It was released on July 12, 2013, in 3D, RealD 3D, IMAX 3D and 4DX, receiving generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its performances, direction, storyline, action sequences, visual effects, musical score, and nostalgic style. While it underperformed at the box office in the United States, it was highly successful in other markets, thus becoming a box office success.[12] It earned a worldwide total of $411 million—earning $114 million in China alone, its largest market—becoming Del Toro's most commercially successful film. The film is regarded as an homage to kaiju, mecha, and anime media.[13][14]

A sequel titled Pacific Rim Uprising was released on March 23, 2018, with Universal Pictures as the film's distributor.

  1. ^ "Pacific Rim (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. July 9, 2013. Archived from the original on July 10, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  2. ^ "Pacific Rim (EN)". Lumiere. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  3. ^ Stewart, Andrew; Oldham, Stuart (June 26, 2013). "Is Pacific Rim Doomed to Be This Year's Battleship?". Variety. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  4. ^ "Pacific Rim". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  5. ^ "Pacific Rim". Legendary Entertainment. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  6. ^ "PACIFIC RIM Production Notes and Images". SciFi Japan. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  7. ^ "10 Contenders Remain in VFX Oscar® Race". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. December 5, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sacks was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference aintitcool50956 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Unbelievable was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Beacham, Travis. "The grammar of Pacific Rim". the principle fantastic. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  12. ^ Mendelson, Scott (September 2, 2013). "Pacific Rim And More Domestic 'Flops' That Became Global Hits". Forbes. Retrieved September 3, 2013.
  13. ^ Axinto, Jemarc (April 24, 2014). "Pacific Rim: In-depth study of the influence of Anime". The Artifice. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  14. ^ Schwerdtfeger, Conner (January 3, 2018). "How Much Guillermo Del Toro Was Involved With Pacific Rim 2". Cinema Blend. Retrieved June 25, 2018.


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