Guillermo del Toro Working on PACIFIC RIM 2 Script

There's a good chance we could cancel the apocalypse again.

According to BuzzFeed, Pacific Rim director Guillermo del Toro is working on a script for the 2013 science fiction monster film.  During promotion for his new FX series The Strain at the Austin Television Festival, del Toro told BuzzFeed that he and screenwriter Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk) have begun work on a screenplay for Pacific Rim 2.

"I’m working very, very hard with Zak Penn," said del Toro.  "We’ve been working for a few months now in secret.  We found a way to twist it around.  Travis Beacham [co-writer of the first film] was involved in the storyline and now I’m writing with Zak because Travis has become a TV mogul."

The director made a point of saying that Legendary Pictures hasn't given a greenlight for the sequel -- yet -- but he and Penn are working on the project as if it's going to be filmed one day.  "I don’t have the money, but I’m proceeding like it is happening," he remarked, adding that he hopes to direct the sequel after producing his next project.

While Pacific Rim only made over $101 million in the United States, the film was huge overseas, bringing in a total of over $411 million worldwide.  And with a reported production budget of $190 million, it certainly seems like a good idea for Legendary Pictures to go ahead with the sequel, especially now that more people have seen the first film on HBO and home video.

Legendary Pictures Chief Thomas Tull recently told I Am Rogue that his production company would only make Pacific Rim 2 "if we can crack the story [and] we all think it’s great," and if del Toro is willing to direct it.

Del Toro also revealed that the script currently includes the characters Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) and Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) and the story will pick up from the events of the first film.  "Some people were wondering if we were going to do the prequel. I was never interested in doing that first wave of invasion," said del Toro said.  "I’m going for very new, very crazy ideas on the second one, which are very different from the first one, but you will get really great spectacle."

Your move, Legendary...