Guillermo del Toro has found himself a monster-stomper.
Rinko Kikuchi will soon be protecting us from alien invaders as she takes on the lead female role in del Toro's upcoming sci-fi extravaganza, "Pacific Rim," according to The Playlist.
"Pacific Rim" chronicles the Earth's battle against giant extraterrestrials, with Kikuchi playing Mako Mori, a Japanese pilot of "Jaegers," large robotic war machines built to fight the invaders.
Mako has recently lost her Jaeger partner (it takes two to work those things), and she's soon teamed with Raleigh Antrobus (Charlie Hunnam), another Jaeger pilot who's recently lost his partner, despite their language barrier.
The cast of "Pacific Rim" also includes Idris Elba as Stacker Pentecost, the commanding officer of the Jaeger team, and Charlie Day as Newt Gotlieb, a scientist working to find the source of the monsters.
Rinko Kikuchi is probably best known for her Oscar-nominated performance in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Babel." Her other credits include "Sideways," "The Brothers Bloom" and the upcoming "47 Ronin," co-starring Keanu Reeves.
Guillermo del Toro and the (rather eclectic and exciting) cast of "Pacific Rim" will be present at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, despite the fact that not one frame of film has been shot yet. Production will commence this fall with a look toward a July 12, 2013 release date.
