Pacific Rim is a 2013 American science fiction monster film directed by Guillermo del Toro, starring Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Robert Kazinsky, Max Martini, Ron Perlman, and Mana Ashida, and the first film in the Pacific Rim franchise.

The screenplay was written by Travis Beacham and del Toro from a story by Beacham. The film is set in the future, when Earth is at war with the Kaiju,[a] colossal sea monsters which have emerged from an interdimensional portal on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

To combat the monsters, humanity unites to create the Jaegers,[b] gigantic humanoid mechas, each controlled by two co-pilots whose minds are joined by a mental link.

Focusing on the war’s later days, the story follows Raleigh Becket, a washed-up Jaeger pilot called out of retirement and teamed with rookie pilot Mako Mori as part of a last-ditch effort to defeat the Kaiju.

Principal photography began on November 14, 2011, in Toronto and ended in April 2012. The film was produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros.

It was released on July 12, 2013, in 3D and IMAX 3D, receiving generally positive reviews; the visual effects, action sequences, and nostalgic style were highly praised.

While it underperformed at the box office in the United States, it was highly successful in other markets, thus labeling the film as a box office success.

It earned a worldwide total of more than $411 million—earning $114 million in China alone, its largest market—becoming Del Toro’s most commercially successful film to date.

The film is regarded as an homage to kaiju, mecha, and anime media. A sequel titled Pacific Rim: Uprising was released on March 23, 2018, with Universal Pictures distributing.