Academy Aware nominee Guillermo del Toro is directing Legendary Pictures' "Pacific Rim," the studio announced Wednesday.
The film is the most recent in a string of stories about humanity coming together to fight off creatures who come to take over Earth. Columbia's upcoming "Battle: Los Angeles" is about a Marine platoon that fights off invading aliens.
"Pacific Rim" is scheduled for a summer, 2013 release. It has begun preproduction and will begin principal photography this September.
Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni are producing for Legendary and del Toro also is producing.
In a written statement, del Toro said, "We started developing PAC RIM a while ago with the mad passion and enthusiasm of a project unwatched and unchecked by politics or comparisons. We designed and shepherded the movie we want to make. We start shooting in September and we hit the ground running because we are so in sync. My partnership with Legendary represents, both in scale and creative demands, a huge step forward for me."
del Toro was nominated for an Oscar for his 2006 screenplay "Pan's Labrynth." He also wrote "The Hobbit," Part 1 and Part 2, New Line/MGM productions that both are in preproduction. The writer initially was set to direct "The Hobbit," but left because of production delays related to the sale of MGM.
"At the Mountains of Madness," which del Toro wrote and is directing for Universal Pictures, is planning a summer shoot and scheduled for release in 2013. That movie is based on a story by H.P. Lovecraft. James Cameron is producing.
