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Tom Cruise was supposed to star in Pacific Rim, says director Guillermo del Toro.
After a 10th anniversary screening of Pacific Rim, del Toro spoke to Collider. He reminisced about Cruise nearly starring in his 2013 film.
“Oh yeah. The two models for Pacific Rim, the two models for the screenplay, are Hoosiers with Gene Hackman and Top Gun. So, the part that Idris Elba plays, Tom Cruise was gonna do it, and I even had a karaoke,” del Toro revealed. “The deal couldn't be made. He wanted to do it. We were developing stuff, and he couldn't do it. I thought, ‘You know what? Let's go with Idris Elba then. He's a god.' Obviously, I had to rewrite it for that, but I thought it was gonna be an interesting analog to do that. It would have been a lot of fun.”
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That wasn't the only time del Toro attempted to work with Cruise. “I have developed three movies with Cruise, and none of the three times we have worked, but we have had quite a laugh, you know?” he added.
Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim ended up starring Charlie Hunnam and Idris Elba. It grossed over $400 million during its theatrical run, warranting a sequel be made. However, del Toro didn't return for the sequel. He recently revealed one of the driving forces being the studio making a late payment on the soundstages. Del Toro ended up directing The Shape of Water in turn, which won Best Picture at the Oscars, and Steven S. DeKnight directed the sequel, Uprising. Pacific Rim Uprising starred John Boyega and Scott Eastwood.
