Legendary Entertainment has signed a first-look television deal with Oscar-nominated writer and producer Eric Heisserer, Variety has learned exclusively, with the first project already set: a Pacific Rim origin story series.

The pact will see Heisserer and Carmen Lewis — his partner at their production company Chronology — developing and producing a slate of IP-driven projects for Legendary Television. Their debut effort under the agreement will return audiences to the monster-versus-machine universe that Guillermo del Toro launched on the big screen in 2013.

“Eric is a multitalented, prolific creator whose track record of critical and commercial successes speaks for itself,” said Jason Clodfelter, president of Legendary Television. “We are thrilled to launch our partnership with Eric, Chronology, and Carmen, with a new entry in the epic, globally popular Pacific Rim universe. We are certain their vision will make for an enthralling expansion to Legendary’s beloved franchise.”

The deal marks another major studio collaboration for Heisserer, coming less than a month after Chronology set a first-look film arrangement with Sony Pictures.

Heisserer is best known for his work across both film and television. He earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival (2016), and went on to write the global Netflix hit Bird Box. His other credits include Lights Out, Bloodshot, Hours (which he also directed), and the 2010 reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street. On television, he adapted Leigh Bardugo’s “Grishaverse” novels into the Netflix fantasy series Shadow and Bone, serving as creator and showrunner.

The Pacific Rim franchise began with Del Toro’s 2013 film, which grossed over $400 million worldwide and introduced audiences to a world where humanity defends itself against Kaiju — colossal monsters from an inter-dimensional breach — by building equally massive fighting machines known as Jaegers. The sequel, Pacific Rim Uprising, was released in 2018, followed by the animated series Pacific Rim: The Black, which ran for two seasons on Netflix from 2021 to 2022.

Details on the new prequel series remain under wraps, but sources suggest it will explore the origins of the Kaiju war and the early development of the Jaeger program — setting the stage for the stories fans already know.

Heisserer is represented by Art/Work Entertainment, CAA, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.

With Legendary doubling down on its signature sci-fi and fantasy properties, the move signals an ambitious expansion of one of its most recognizable franchises. The Pacific Rim prequel would join Legendary’s growing TV portfolio as it continues to translate blockbuster worlds into serialized storytelling.