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Guillermo del Toro agreed to direct Pacific Rim on one condition: Give every robot two pilots

Pacific Rim scribe Travis Beacham was piloting the story almost 100% to del Toro's liking, but there was one modification it needed to be battle-ready

News by Grant DeArmitt, Staff Writer

Published on Mon Sep 14 2026

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It's been 13 years since horror/fantasy icon Guillermo del Toro put his own spin on the kaiju genre, which as you might know if you're a fan of GDT's, is one of the director's most beloved. And it makes sense - the blockbuster Pacific Rim was made with enough love that it's still adored by kaiju fans today. All these years later, del Toro recently got candid about making the choice to direct Pacific Rim, a movie he was quick to sign on to...

So long as there was one major script revision.

Del Toro recounted his Pacific Rim experience during a Reddit AMA that went down September 9. During the Q&A, a fan going by the handle u/5ynistar wondered if the director would ever go back to "a kaiju or giant robot movie again," and del Toro's response sparked his memories of the original film.

"I would love to go back," said The Shape of Water director, "A kaiju-mecha intersection is my sweet spot. That’s why I agreed to do Pacific Rim based on the outline by Travis Beacham. The only thing I immediately said is that it should be two pilots for the robots, so that the story is about two people that need to learn to trust each other."

"Oh my god," the Frankenstein director opined, "I tried so many new things in the way we shot the kaiju, that now I see in other kaiju movies, like the night and the rain, the neon lights. It was such a joy. To me, it's one of my favorite movies I ever shot. I adore it."

Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth returns to theaters for its 20th anniversary October 9.

In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, "Life's no fun without a good scare." Join Popverse's freaky forays into frightful filmology with:

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Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.