Guillermo del Toro has revealed his plans for a new film that he’s set to work on in 2015, having specially introduced a hiatus in the pre-production process for Pacific Rim 2.

“Right away, in February/March I should [start on] another very small movie,” reveals Del Toro. “Black and white, really, really bizarre.”

“We start pre-production on Pacific Rim 2 in August, and then I interrupt it briefly to go into the first of next year to do this strange little movie, and then I restart it and go all the way until we start shooting Pacific Rim 2 at the end of 2015 for release in 2017.”

As to what exactly the new film will be about, Del Toro is keeping tight-lipped, although he has revealed that “there’s a great creature in it”, which sounds intriguing.

“It’s a very small cast,” says the director. “I would love to have John Hurt, and there’s an actress that I have in mind that is not well-known, but I’ve seen her in a short film… I’m gonna try her out for the main role.”

Pacific Rim 2 opens in the US on 7 April 2017.