Fans of Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim film series will soon be able to fight Kaiju in real-life.
Legendary Pictures — the production studio behind both installments of the sci-fi action franchise — has partnered Indonesia’s Trans Studio Cibubur theme park to launch Pacific Rim: Shatterdome Strike, a “groundbreaking mega dark ride” based on the films.
Billed as the first “immersive theater dark ride” in the world, guests will experience the attraction across four distinct sections along a nearly 20-minute run time. They will come face-to-face with three new Kaiju foes as they accompany the Pan Pacific Defense Corp’s first Mark VII Jaeger, a giant, human-piloted mech suit created to defend the planet from the rise of the Kaiju. Riders will take control of the mobile weapon through a combination of 3D film sequences, practical effects, and a new, state-of-the-art ride vehicle.
A press release indicates a “surprise twist” midway through the ride that’s “unprecedented in the history of theme parks.”
“Trans Studio challenged us to create a dark ride experience unlike any other,” said Eric Carnagey, an executive producer for the project at Legacy Entertainment, a design firm hired to design, direct and produce the experience alongside Lay-Carnagey Entertainment. “The result is one of the most unique theme park experiences in the industry today. No matter what park guests have seen before, they’ll be shocked by what we have in store for them at Pacific Rim: Shatterdome Strike.”
Upon its debut in 2013, del Toro’s first Pacific Rim film — starring Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, and Charlie Day — followed humanity’s ongoing war against the monstrous Kaiju invaders, which involved fighting the beasts via titanic robots piloted by highly trained humans. The project grossed $411.5 million worldwide, and led to a sequel, Pacific Rim: Uprising, which grossed nearly $300 million worldwide with new stars John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, and Jing Tian. A comic book companion series, Pacific Rim: Aftermath, was also released, and an animated Netflix series is expected to continue the franchise when it debuts in 2020.
An opening date for Pacific Rim: Shatterdome Strike has yet to be announced, though Trans Studio Cibubur is currently operating in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. Check out concept artwork and photos of the ride’s progress above and below.
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