‘Pacific Rim 2’ To Film In Australia? Director Steven DeKnight Tweets He’s Preparing Things For ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ Actor John Boyega Down Under

Did director Steven DeKnight just confirm that “Pacific Rim 2” will be filming in Australia?

In a recent tweet to “Pacific Rim 2” star John Boyega, DeKnight revealed that he’s currently prepping things for the actor “Down Under.”

“Congrats! I'm getting things ready for you Down Under for your next adventure,” DeKnight replied to Boyega’s tweet, which announced that he has just wrapped filming the untitled historical crime drama movie directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

The 24-year-old “Star Wars: Episode VIII” actor then expressed his excitement about shooting the “Pacific Rim” sequel. “Going to sleep first and then we get to robotic warfare! Excited!” he wrote in a follow-up tweet.

“Love it! Sleep well, my friend!” replied the filmmaker, whose directorial credits include “Daredevil,” “Dollhouse,” “Smallville” and “Angel.”

After the duo’s short exchange of tweets, DeKnight responded to a fan asking whether “Pacific Rim 2” is going to film in Australia. “We are already among you. Watching. Planning...,” the director wrote, suggesting that he’s already in Australia, probably for pre-production.

As revealed by Deadline last June, Boyega was cast as the lead character for “Pacific Rim 2.” He will play the son of Stacker Pentecost, who was portrayed by Idris Elba in the original film directed Guillermo del Toro. At the end of the month, Deadline also reported that Scott Eastwood was in early negotiations to join the cast in a key role.

In an interview with Yahoo Movies at the San Diego Comic-Con last July, Charlie Hunnam — who played main character Raleigh Becket in the 2013 film — revealed that he won't be reprising his role in the sequel due to scheduling conflicts.

“I read an early draft of what they’re doing,” the 36-year-old actor said. “There was one incarnation of this sequel that involved me heavily, but I was unavailable. They have a very definite schedule that they have to film because of the politics and business surrounding filmmaking. Sometimes non-creative decision will dictate how something unfolds, which seems ‘bass ackwards’ in the fact that we’re making art or at least aspiring to make art.”

Hunnam continued, “It just ended up being unfortunately like something we could not remedy because by the time they got their schedule, they fully realized that I wasn’t available.”

While DeKnight would not confirm whether fans would see any of the other original cast members, including Elba, Rinko Kikuchi and Charlie Day in the upcoming movie, the director teased that fans can expect “Lots of crazy cool stuff” from the sequel.

“Pacific Rim 2,” which has a working title of “Maelstrom,” is slated for a Feb. 28, 2018 release.