Director Guillermo del Toro initially set his sights on Hollywood legend Tom Cruise to star in his 2013 action blockbuster Pacific Rim.
Speaking to Collider, del Toro elaborated on how Cruise's iconic 1986 action-drama, Top Gun, served as one of the key inspirations for Pacific Rim. The filmmaker wanted to pay homage to this by having Cruise as Marshal Stacker Pentecost. "The two models for Pacific Rim, the two models for the screenplay, are Hoosiers with Gene Hackman and Top Gun," del Toro explained. "So, the part that Idris Elba plays, Tom Cruise was gonna do it, and I even had a karaoke [scene]."
However, Cruise was preparing to headline Oblivion, a dystopian thriller directed by Joseph Kosinski, about a man who undergoes cloning and isolation multiple times. "The deal couldn't be made. He wanted to do it," del Toro continued. "We were developing stuff, and he couldn't do it. I thought, 'You know what? Let's go with Idris Elba, then. He's a god.' Obviously, I had to rewrite it for that, but I thought it was gonna be an interesting analog to do that. It would have been a lot of fun."
Guillermo del Toro's Failed Attempts To Work With Tom Cruise
Charlie Hunnam eventually led the cast of del Toro's Pacific Rim as Raleigh Becket, a retired pilot called back into action by the Pan Pacific Defense Corp. Becket's relationship with Elba's Pentecost was marked by their contrasting views on the most effective strategy to combat the colossal creatures wreaking havoc across the world, claiming countless innocent lives. They eventually put aside their differences and team up to ensure humanity's survival.
Over the years, del Toro had other opportunities to work with Cruise, but none came to be. "I have developed three movies with Cruise, and none of the three times worked, but we have had quite a laugh," the filmmaker said. "My life is so weird. I'm like Forrest Gump. All of a sudden, I'm in places that I don't know how it happened, but I go, "Eh, I like it. Honestly, I'm very grateful." There's a saying in movies, and it's a really great saying, they say, 'Take the scout, don't make the movie.'"
Guillermo del Toro went on to explain what the scouting process is like. "When you're scouting, you are in basically a bus trip with a bunch of people eating in great places and having a great time," the filmmaker added. "My favorite part of movies, like when I planned The Devil's Backbone, I made an itinerary through Spain where they sold the best sausages, the best asparagus. We were in Scotland scouting for the next movie. I was mapping where there was a good macaroni and cheese pie."
Pacific Rim is currently available on the free streaming platform Tubi.
Source: Collider