PACIFIC RIM excites genre fans, pulls $91 million worldwide

You could say that PACIFIC RIM and “genre” fans were “drift compatible” opening weekend.

The term, meaning the “mind meld” compatibility of two Jaeger pilots, is indicative of a strong bond, and none was stronger than those who attended the weekend premiere of PACIFIC RIM. PACIFIC RIM earned $91 million on its opening weekend, good for #2 behind DESPICABLE ME 2 in worldwide gross. Fans took to Twitter and social media to voice their support for PACIFIC RIM, some declaring it the best film of 2013. Critics also stepped up in their support, giving PACIFIC RIM a 71% rating on rottentomatoes.com.

Despite the global success, PACIFIC RIM underperformed in the United States, falling to #3 domestically behind the Adam Sandler comedy GROWN UPS 2, a startling upset for die-hard GDT fans who have let their disappointment known online and are hoping for enough gross earnings to merit a sequel.

One thing is for certain – we have never seen a Guillermo Del Toro film quite like this.

It is the highest domestic gross weekend ever for a GDT film, outpacing a sequel of his own, HELLBOY 2 ($34,500) in 2005 – and deservedly so because everything about the film is HUGE. It is created to be seen on an IMAX screen in 3D – it is Guillermo’s preferred viewing of the film – and it is the only way to completely represent the massiveness of the Jaeger and kaiju, each nearly 25 stories tall in scale. The subtle details that Guillermo’s fans love are still there – from a flowering Kaiju tongue to biological specimens in jars – but without a doubt this film pulls his biggest punch (some would say a ROCKET punch).

And with genre film fans, the punch seems to have landed. A groundswell of support is being stirred up on the likes of Twitter as fans take to the internet to proclaim their love for Guillermo’s latest gift – we will have to wait until next weekend to see if the word-of-mouth has done the trick.

After all, everyone here at DelToroFilms.com wants a sequel – the story of Raleigh and Mako is just getting started!

chroneboy says:

July 29, 2013 at 4:44 pm

Pacific Rim is now at $224,026,000 worldwide and it’s released on Wednesday in China, Japan and Spain and August 9th in Brazil, I did the best I could to get people I know to go see it and they were all very happy people, great movie I might just watch it once more before it’s dragged from cinemas in the U.K. but have my eyes on the Blu-Ray already as soon as it’s available, hope we get a sequel but I love everything Guillermo makes he’s a true visionary bring on pac rim 2, hellboy 3 ATMOM, Crimson peak and anything else the man creates 🙂

caseyc says:

August 11, 2013 at 12:13 am

Dear GDT,

Pacific Rim is truly a great film. The only film I feel worth watching in IMAX and 3D. The visuals are simply amazing and realistic. You really do feel a bit of terror looking at the kaijus. And the analog sets were worth every penny you spent.

It’s a great departure from all the recent US hero movies, which are more geared towards mainstream commercial success (boring!)… PR is truly a breath of fresh air.

GDT, hats down to you for a lot of guts to take on such a massive budget and risk. I’m sure you knew PR may not fit the appetite of the Americans…

I love the film also because it is very accurate (or more accurate than any other Hollywood movie I’ve seen). I am very familiar with Hong Kong, Sydney, and the city scenes were very accurate. Also no jiberish Chinese and Japanese in the dialog and on the sets. This jiberish Asian languages used in other Hollywood films really kills the mood and shows lack of respect.

The Chinese stick fighting scene between Raleigh and Mako was also very well choreographed and well done.

I’m sure you know there are massive number of big robot fans in Asia (Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc). But there are also big robot fans all over the world including Europe, South America, and others. I think most of the Asians who saw PR felt the respect that they haven’t felt from other Hollywood movies. I REALLY HOPE YOU WILL TAKE ANOTHER CHANCE AN MAKE A SEQUEL. Like many others, I would love to see it! And if the US market cannot stomach it, then look to the international markets in which PR did very well!

Good luck and respect!

Case C

August 11, 2013 at 12:32 am

By the way, fellow PR fans. If you want a sequel, go watch PR again…

Who said you can only see a movie once…

4yoMamaT1 says:

January 29, 2014 at 7:53 pm

Recently, my 4 year old son and I were watching Pacific Rim (for the gozillionth time) when something occurred to him: He said “Why don’t they just drown the Kaijus? A jaeger is a heavy metal machine with waterproofing capabilities, right? And Kaijus are living breathing animal clones, right? So why can’t a Jaeger stan-on or bear-hug a Kaiju and lay down in the Pacific Ocean until he stops moving?”

I thought this was a noteworthy idea, so I asked him “Would you like for me to somehow contact the movie makers & try to find out? His eyes sparkled & said “We can do that?”

You are welcome to conceptualize or implement his idea, but the most important thing to him is to get some form of feedback via a reply to this email. Somewhat like writing your legislator when I was a kid in school. As a Mom, I would greatly appreciate it. I believe it would help him to feel a sense of connectedness to the world on a grander scale and reinforce the notion that contacting those in power can make a difference; that someone out there is actually reading this & consider it worthwhile to encourage a small child to reach out to the upper echelons & try to be heard and make a difference in the world. That regardless of age your opinion may be heard by the people at the top & they do care enough to respond.
Regards,
Mama T.

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