Legendary's Godzilla 2, Pacific Rim: Maelstrom Sequel Films Get New Titles

Legendary Pictures announced on Wednesday that the title of the sequel film for the 2014 Godzilla movie will be Godzilla: King of Monsters, and the title for the Pacific Rim: Maelstrom sequel movie is now Pacific Rim: Uprising.

Scriptwriters Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields (Krampus) are penning a script for Godzilla: King of Monsters. Godzilla: King of Monsters is currently slated for March 22, 2019, while the planned Godzilla vs. Kong crossover film is slated for May 29, 2020.

Director Gareth Edwards, who directed the 2014 Godzilla film, left the Godzilla sequel project in May. News source Deadline described the split as "amicable."

Pacific Rim: Uprising will debut in theaters on February 23, 2018. Filming has begun film in Sydney, Australia. The staff crew will also shoot a short portion of the film in China. Dr. Jack Gao, an executive at Beijing Wanda Cultural Industry Group, which owns Legendary Entertainment, stated that the sequel's story "has a strong connection to China."

John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Finn) is playing the lead role in the film as the son of Idris Elba's Stacker Pentecost character from the first film. Actress and singer Cailee Spaeny (Counting to 1,000) is playing the lead female role in the film. Suicide Squad actor Scott Eastwood, The Great Wall actress Jing Tian, The Belko Experiment's Adria Arjona, and Japanese actor Mackenyu are also cast in the film. Shyrley Rodriguez (The Get Down) and Chinese actors Zhang Jin (The Grandmaster), Wesley Wong, Lily Ji, Chen Zitong, Lan Yingying, and Qian Yongchen have also joined the cast. The film will also feature cameos by Xiao Yang and Korean actor Kim Jeong-Hoon.

Steven S. DeKnight, showrunner and director on Netflix's Daredevil series, is directing the film.​