Pacific Rim 2 is officially happening, with Legendary confirming a 2017 release date for Guillermo del Toro’s sci-fi sequel.

Del Toro himself has always said he is open to directing a second film, and sure enough, the Mexican auteur has officially signed on to re-occupy the director’s chair.

While the first film performed underwhelmingly in the US, barely limping past the $100 million mark, its international take was far more impressive, with a worldwide total of around $411 million.

It’s that latter figure that will have convinced Legendary to give the sequel the green light, with del Toro, Travis Beacham and Zak Penn currently working on a script.

Pacific Rim 2 will arrive in the US on 7 April 2017, with a new animated series also in the pipeline to tide fans over until then. Long live the Kaiju!

In the meantime, check out what Guillermo del Toro and the cast had to tell us about what they wanted to see in a Pacific Rim sequel:

And here’s GdT’s video message announcing a sequel: