Universal confirms what Pacific Rim fans long feared: Its sequel has been infinitely delayed. Pacific Rim 2 was to debut in theaters on Aug. 7, 2017, though it is off of Universal's release schedule and has been replaced with Pitch Perfect 3, according to Variety. The studio and primary backer Legendary Entertainment say they want to allow more time for Pacific Rim 2 to become "the vanguard, fully-immersive experience that the franchise deserves."

Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim combined two Japanese movie genres: Kaiju, or giant monsters; and mecha—"mechanized armor." It stars Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Ron Perlman and Charlie Day, and Kanye West even called it one of his favorite movies of all time. But it wasn't the blockbuster success that Universal had hoped it would be, making $411 million worldwide though barely $100 million domestically. Pacific Rim was compared (unfairly) to Michael Bay's Transformers franchise, though Age of Extinction had crossed the $1 billion mark.

Guillermo's latest film, the "Gothic romance" Crimson Peak, is in theaters October 16.

Revisit "THINKING TO PIECES: Kanye West Loves Pacific Rim—Will You?"