"Star Wars" actor John Boyega has landed the lead role in the forthcoming sequel to action blockbuster "Pacific Rim".
The 24 year old London-born actor will be playing the son of Stacker Pentecost, who was played by Idris Elba in the 2013 original, reported Deadline.
Featuring human-piloted giant robots battling with trans-dimensional alien monsters, "Pacific Rim" ranked as one of the bigger budgets in recent times.
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro is set to take a back seat to become executive producer, with television director and screenwriter Steven S DeKnight set to make his movie directorial debut with "Pacific Rim 2".
The sequel currently has a tentative release date of August 4, 2017. It will begin shooting at the end of this year, as soon as Boyega has finished filming the eighth instalment of "Star Wars".
