Even with all the problems it had, interest in Pacific Rim 2 remains strong. The film recently cast John Boyega as son to Idris Elba’s character, and scheduled a February 2018 release date.

But it appears that he won’t be the only actor to be in the film. According to new reports, Scott Eastwood – Clint Eastwood’s son – may be joining Boyega for the larger-than-life bouts between the Kaiju and the Jaegers. More on the story below.

The Hollywood Reporter says that it isn’t final, but Eastwood has entered talks to join Boyega for the sequel. So far Boyega is the only one to be cast, and generally when reports like this come out, an actor usually signs on for a role. Of course, things could go south and he or she could walk away from it, but that is generally not the case. However, if Eastwood does join, he would be the second actor to be officially on board. Original stars Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Hunnam, and Charlie Day have yet to be confirmed to reprise their respective roles.

Now there is no indication that Eastwood would play as the right or left brain of the Jaeger. As we have seen in the first film, Jaegers need to have two pilots working in unison, much like how the human brain works, hence right and left brain.

As for Eastwood, he’s been appearing in more films in recent years having made his major film debut You Got Served – anyone remember that movie? – where he was credited then as Scott Reeves. Other film credits include Gran Torino; a reboot of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Texas Chainsaw 3D, back in 2013; and The Longest Ride. He will appear in Suicide Squad later this year, and has a role in Fast 8 as well as Live By Night alongside Ben Affleck and Anna Kendrick.

Travis Beacham, Zak Penn, and Jon Spaihts have all taken passes at the script, and it should be interesting to see how much of their work influenced the final draft written by Derek Conolly (Jurassic World). Guillermo del Toro will not return to direct, instead, he’ll stay on as a producer. Steven S. DeKnight (Daredevil) will be directing this time.

The first Pacific Rim wasn’t a huge hit in America failing to meet certain box office expectations to even warrant a sequel. However, it was a huge hit over in China, where the native country’s conglomerate, China’s Dalian Wanda Group acquired Legendary Pictures (who produced Pacific Rim), helped get a sequel back on track. It should be noted that Warcraft is also a huge hit in China.

Universal Pictures will open Pacific Rim 2 on February 23, 2018

[Source: THR]