Pacific Rim: Uprising, the 2018 sequel widely seen as having ended the franchise’s momentum, has become a surprise success on HBO Max eight years after its cinema release. The article highlights the renewed attention as a contrast with the film’s original underperformance and its role in halting further instalments.

Directed by Steven S. DeKnight, the film starred John Boyega, Scott Eastwood and an early-career Cailee Spaeny. It followed Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim, which took about $410 million worldwide against a reported $190 million budget in 2013; the sequel was made partly to build on the original’s particularly strong Chinese box office, adding Chinese actors Jing Tian and Zhang Jin.