Pacific Rim Is The Highest Grossing Original Live-Action Film Of The Year

By Rudie Obias | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

Pacific RimThere were definitely a handful of polarizing science fiction movies released this past summer, namely Star Trek Into Darkness and Pacific Rim. While Star Trek has decreased in quality after multiple viewings, conversely Pacific Rim seems to be a much better film after watching it again and again. You fall into the world Guillermo del Toro created and marvel as its amazing imagery and spectacle dazzles you. Although the film has yet to receive a sequel greenlight from Warner Bros., its increasing box office might make the movie studio reconsider.

As reported on ComicBook.com, Pacific Rim is the highest grossing live-action film based on an original story or concept in 2013. Year after year, we see the worldwide box office dominated by sequels, remakes, and reboots, so it’s refreshing to see an original movie perform so well with audiences around the world. As it stands, Pacific Rim received higher grosses internationally, with $305.8 million coming from foreign markets, while domestically it took in $101.4 million, for a worldwide total of $407.2 million.

Guillermo del Toro’s latest is currently the tenth-highest-grossing film of the year, with its best performance coming in China, where it added $111.9 million to its box office. Not surprising, but Pacific Rim actually did better in China than in the United States. With movie studios looking to find their footing in the all-important Chinese market, a sequel to Pacific Rim might be a good thing for Warner Bros.’ bottom line. Rounding out the top ten highest-grossing movies of 2013 are Star Trek Into Darkness, World War Z, Man of Steel, and Furious 6.

Comparatively, the highest-grossing film of the year (so far) is Iron Man 3 with a $1.2 billion box office gross. The Marvel movie grossed $121.2 million in China, about $10 million more than Pacific Rim, and Iron Man 3 was actually a Chinese co-production. If Pacific Rim had been a co-production with a Chinese production company, it could have played in more theaters and possibly grossed more money in China.

These box office numbers are pretty impressive, but when you take into consideration that Pacific Rim had a production budget of $190 million, with additional cost of prints and advertising, that $407 million worldwide box office take seems less than stellar. Pacific Rim has yet to be released on home video, so expect to see more millions added to the film’s tallies.

Del Toro and co-screenwriter Travis Beacham are currently working on the screenplay for Pacific Rim 2, regardless of whether it will actually get a sequel or not. If Warner Bros. doesn’t greenlight a sequel, it’s possible the Pacific Rim 2 story could become a graphic novel or animated feature instead. Guillermo del Toro has also hinted at a few ideas, which involve even bigger Jaegers and Kaiju, as well as a melding of both into one terrifying monster.

The Mexican director’s next film is the gothic horror film Crimson Peak, starring Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, and Charlie Hunnam. He is also working on the TV adaptation for The Strain, a novel he co-wrote with Chuck Hogan, for the cable network FX.

Pacific Rim will be available on Blu-ray/DVD and as a digital download on October 15.