Pacific Rim prequel TV show in the works from Netflix’s Shadow and Bone showrunner

A new Pacific Rim prequel series is in the works, Variety reports. Eric Heisserer will develop the show for Legendary Television, the studio behind the upcoming Bene Gesserit-centered Dune prequel series Dune: Prophecy.

Heisserer was previously the showrunner of Netflix fantasy series Shadow and Bone, which ran for two seasons between 2021 and 2023. He also wrote the screenplays for horror thriller Bird Box and Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi movie Arrival, the latter of which earned him an Oscar nomination.

The Pacific Rim franchise began with the Guillermo del Toro-directed movie released in 2013. Set in a world where humans are at war with Kaiju using giant humanoid robots called Jaegers, Charlie Hunnam stars as former Jaeger pilot Raleigh Becket who’s pulled out of retirement for a last-ditch mission to save the planet. Rinko Kikuchi, Idris Elba, Ron Perlman, and Charlie Day also star. 

A sequel, Pacific Rim: Uprising, followed in 2018, with John Boyega and Alien: Romulus‘ Cailee Spaeny joining the cast, and animated series Pacific Rim: The Black ran for two seasons on Netflix between 2021 and 2022.  

The plot of the prequel series is still under wraps, than the fact that its an “origin story”. That means we can probably expect the show to follow the rise of the Kaiju and what happened when they first appeared through an interdimensional portal in the Pacific Ocean.

While we wait for the Pacific Rim prequel series to arrive on our screens, check out our guide to the other best new TV shows on the way in 2024 and beyond.