Star Wars actor John Boyega has landed another huge role in the wake of his recent success – the lead role in the forthcoming sequel to action blockbuster Pacific Rim.

Deadline reported on Monday (June 6th) that the 24 year old London-born actor will be playing the son of Stacker Pentecost, who was played by Idris Elba in the 2013 original. Featuring human-piloted giant robots battling with trans-dimensional alien monsters, Pacific Rim ranked as one of the bigger budgets in recent times, with an outlay of $190 million.

John BoyegaJohn Boyega is to take the lead role in 'Pacific Rim 2'

Directed by Guillermo Del Toro, the original under-performed in America but pulled in a lot of money throughout the rest of the world, totalling $411 million. Del Toro is set to take a back seat to become executive producer, with television director and screenwriter Steven S. DeKnight set to make his movie directorial debut with Pacific Rim 2.

It means that Boyega is possibly signed up for two massive ongoing movies franchises while he’s still in his twenties – with a third Pacific Rim movie being mooted earlier this year.

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“I am very proud and happy to welcome John into a fantastic sandbox,” Del Toro said in a statement. “The Pacific Rim universe will be reinforced with him as a leading man as it continues to be a multicultural, multi-layered world. ‘The World saving the world’ was our goal and I couldn’t think of a better man for the job.”

The sequel currently has a tentative release date of August 4th 2017. It will begin shooting at the end of this year, as soon as Boyega has finished filming the eighth instalment of Star Wars.

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