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Pacific Rim: Maelstrom Casts Shyrley Rodriguez, Zhang Jin, More
posted on by Karen Ressler
Entertainment news website Deadline Hollywood reported last week that Pacific Rim: Maelstrom, the sequel to Guillermo del Toro and Travis Beacham's 2013 science-fiction robot film, has cast American actress Shyrley Rodriguez (The Get Down) and Chinese actors Zhang Jin (The Grandmaster), Wesley Wong, Lily Ji, Chen Zitong, Lan Yingying and Qian Yongchen. The film will also feature cameos by Xiao Yang and Korean actor Kim Jeong-Hoon.
Shyrley Rodriguez
Zhang Jin
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.
Steven S. DeKnight, showrunner and director on Netflix's Daredevil series, is directing the film. Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, Mary Parent, and del Toro are credited as producers, and Jillian Share is credited as executive producer for the film. Jon Spaihts wrote the current script attached to the film, and Jurassic World writer Derek Connolly is also on the production team for the film. Universal Pictures will release the film in 3D worldwide.
The film 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."
Sources: Deadline (Amanda N'Duka), Variety (Dave McNary) via ICv2
