‘Star Wars’ actor John Boyega set to battle giant monsters in ‘Pacific Rim’ sequel

John Boyega is going from droids to giant robots.

The breakout star of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will be canceling the apocalypse in the sequel to the 2013 sci-fi action film “Pacific Rim.” Boyega will have a lead role in the film playing the son of character Stacker Pentecost, played in the original film by Idris Elba.

Deadline first reported the news.

Directed by Guillermo del Toro, “Pacific Rim” centered on a battle between human-piloted giant robots and Godzilla-style giant monsters known as kaiju. While the film grossed just $102 million domestically, it pulled in a more impressive $411 million worldwide.

Steven S. DeKnight, who created the Starz series “Spartacus,” is set to make his feature directing debut with the “Pacific Rim,” which will begin shooting at the end of this year, after Boyega wraps shooting on “Star Wars: Episode VIII.”

“I am very proud and happy to welcome John into a fantastic sandbox,” Del Toro said in a statement. “The ‘Pacific Rim’ universe will be reinforced with him as a leading man as it continues to be a multicultural, multi-layered world. ‘The World saving the world’ was our goal and I couldn’t think of a better man for the job.”

Twitter: @joshrottenberg

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