Guillermo del Toro said earlier this month that he's been proceeding on a Pacific Rim sequel as if it were official -- and now it is.

Universal has placed a second Pacific Rim film on the schedule for April 7, 2017, with del Toro back as director. del Toro has been writing the script with genre veteran Zak Penn, and in a video message released via Legendary, disclosed that original Pacific Rim screenwriter Travis Beacham will also be involved -- it had been thought that Beacham's schedule on his upcoming Fox series Hieroglyph may prevent him from contributing.

But wait, there's more: In that same video, del Toro announced that a Pacific Rim animated series is being developed, along with more comic books set in the world, following last year's original graphic novel prequel Pacific Rim: Tales from Year Zero (also written by Beacham). So if you're a Pacific Rim fan, it looks like you've got a lot to look forward to in the future. And based on del Toro's comments in that video, it looks like the team isn't straying far from the franchise's central appeal, with the following promised for the sequel: "More Kaijus, more Jaegers, kicking each other's butts."

The original Pacific Rim was released in July 2013, and though its $101.8 million domestic take was considered underwhelming, it was a hit overseas, resulting in a $411 million worldwide total. The second film will be released by Universal due to Legendary's new deal with the studio, following their prior arrangement with Warner Bros. expiring. The characters played by Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi are expected to return in the sequel.