Rinko Kikuchi joins cast of Guillermo del Toro's PACIFIC RIM

Rinko Kikuchi has been cast as the female lead in Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim. Yesterday we reported that Legendary Pictures had announced their Comic-Con panel lineup. There are going to be panels for Pacific Rim, Seventh Son, Paradise Lost, and Mass Effect, which I am very excited for. In the panel press release it was revealed that Kikuchi was cast in Pacific Rim, which The Playlist pointed out.

She joins Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba and Charlie Day in the role of Mako Mori, "a young Japanese pilot of Jaegers, the enormous robotic creatures built to battle the strange creatures attacking earth." She has just "lost her co-pilot (Jaegers have to be driven by two people working together), and despite speaking different languages, the two are paired together by their commanding officer, Stacker Pentecost (Elba). Day, meanwhile, will play "Newt Gotlieb, a scientist working to find the source of the monsters." Filming is scheduled to begin this fall, with the film set for release on July 12th, 2013.

Kikichu had her breakthrough role in Alejando Gonzalez Inarritu‘s Babel, and then starred in Rian Johnson‘s The Brothers Bloom and this year’s Norwegian Wood. She recently wrapped 47 Ronin, opposite Keanu Reeves. I think that she is perfectly cast in this film and am excited to see this panel. What are your thoughts?