Warner Bros said today that it will release Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim on July 12, 2013. The Legendary Pictures sci-fi action film stars Idris Elba (who just closed his deal to star in a role originally developed for Tom Cruise) and Charlie Hunnam; production is set to get underway in November. Travis Beacham wrote the script, which is set in a future where giant malevolent creatures threaten to destroy the earth, and the planet must band together and use advanced weapons technology to eradicate the growing threat.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros also said that Contagion, the Steven Soderbergh drama about the outbreak of a deadly virus that has Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Marion Cotillard starring, is getting a new release date: Sept. 9, 2011, instead of the previously announced Oct. 21.