As the hotly-anticipated Trans Studio Cibubur theme park approaches its grand opening near Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta, officials have unveiled details of the park’s star attraction, “Pacific Rim: Shatterdome Strike.” It’s a groundbreaking, mega dark ride based on the hit motion picture franchise from Legendary Entertainment.
“We are delighted to collaborate with Trans Studio on the world’s first ‘Pacific Rim’ dark ride,” says Drew Von Bergen, Manager of Franchise Management at Legendary Entertainment. “Their commitment to both creative ambition and quality of execution has made for an experience that we believe will thrill and delight parkgoers.”
Touted as “The World’s First Immersive Theater Dark Ride,” the experience takes place in four distinct parts encompassing a nearly 20-minute run time, and puts guests face to face with three new deadly Kaijus making their debut within the ride, each with unique powers and abilities.
The experience begins at the launch ceremony for the Pan Pacific Defense Corp’s (PPDC) first Mark VII Jaeger, the ground-breaking Storm Garuda. Guests will experience the thrill of piloting the most advanced mobile weapon in the PPDC’s fleet thanks to the imaginative combination of 3D film sequences, practical effects, and state of the art ride vehicle technology. There is also a surprise twist midway through the ride portion that is unprecedented in the history of theme parks.
To create this “Next Generation” dark ride experience, Trans Studio enlisted the talents of Legacy Entertainment, the Hollywood-based entertainment design firm, to design, direct and produce the attraction, and Lay-Carnagey Entertainment (“LCE”), an innovative media production team, to direct and produce the attraction’s media components.
At the heart of this attraction, conceptualised and implemented by Legacy Entertainment’s creative team led by Taylor Jeffs, Chris Moschella, and writer/creative director Lee Roe, is an action-packed 3D film experience directed by LCE’s Roger Lay Jr, that is seamlessly blended into a larger than life ride experience with elements of live theater, immersive environments, and motion-based ride technology.
The “Pacific Rim: Shatterdome Strike” experience expands the Pacific Rim mythology by introducing new Jaegers and Kaiju to the growing universe. Trans Studio worked closely with Legendary Entertainment to ensure that all of the new story elements, technology, and creatures would fit into the ever-evolving Pacific Rim canon.
“Trans Studio challenged us to create a dark ride experience unlike any other,” says Eric Carnagey, the project’s Executive Producer at Legacy Entertainment. “The result is one of the most unique theme park experiences in the industry today. No matter what park guests have seen before, they’ll be shocked by what we have in store for them at Pacific Rim: Shatterdome Strike.”
First launched in 2013, Legendary’s “Pacific Rim” franchise traces humanity’s ongoing war against a monstrous global threat that can only be fought when the bravest among us level the battlefield at the helm of powerful mechs built to defend our very existence. The series has grossed over $700M at the global box office and has spawned not only several comic book series, including “Pacific Rim: Aftermath,” but also an anime series set to debut on Netflix in 2020.
