‘Star Wars’ fame John Boyega to play ‘Pacific Rim 2's’ lead actor. (Photo : YouTube/Pacific Rim)
"Pacific Rim: Uprising," sequel to the hit 2013 sci-fi monster flick "Pacific Rim," is filling up its cast list by confirming new additions to the movie. Confirmed to return to the movie is Rinko Kikuchi as she reprises her role as Mako Mori. There are also rumors that "Star Trek" actor Karl Urban is joining the cast.
Guillermo del Toro previously promised that fans will see a lot of familiar faces in "Pacific Rim: Uprising." True enough, Kikuchi is back as the female lead Mako Mori, Screen Rant reported. She will star alongside "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" star John Boyega who is playing the male lead after Charlie Hunnam dropped the project. Hunnam, who played Raleigh Becket in the first movie, previously explained that while he wanted to be part of the sequel, he couldn't commit to it due to scheduling conflicts.
There are also rumblings that Karl Urban would be joining in on the action in "Pacific Rim: Uprising." The rumors stem from a photo posted by cinematographer Daniel Mindel that shows the cast list for the sequel. Aside from Mori, Urban's name was among those listed.
However, Urban took to his personal Twitter account to warn people not to believe anything they read on the internet. He also shut down the rumors by clarifying that he's not part of "Pacific Rim: Uprising," Cinema Blend reported.
Interestingly, Mindel's photo also indicate that Charlie Day and Burn Gorman are reprising their "Pacific Rim" roles as Dr. Newton Geiszler and Hermann Gottlieb, respectively. Newer cast members include Scott Eastwood and Cailee Spaeny, Spaeny is reportedly playing a lead role in the sequel.
Meanwhile, Boyega is taking on the lead role in "Pacific Rim: Uprising" as the son of Idris Elba's Stacker Pentecost. Boyega and Mori's storyline, although not yet revealed at this point, is already proving to be very interesting to fans considering that Kikuchi's character, Mako, was an adopted daughter of Pentecost.
As for Hunnam, the actor isn't closing his doors to appearing in future "Pacific Rim" movies.
"Pacific Rim: Uprising" will premiere in theaters on Feb. 22, 2018.
