This weekend was the coming out party for Guillermo Del Toro and Troy Nixey’s Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, and so naturally question arose about the former’s next project. With the director finally getting behind the camera on a film of his own for the first time in too many years, I can’t even begin to imagine how much he’s been bombarded with questions (that he can’t or won’t yet answer) about Pacific Rim.

Luckily, Collider managed to get him to cough up one brand new self-applied superlative, and it may suggest a lot about how excited we should all be for this film. When asked generally about Rim‘s status, he noted how much fun he’s having with the designs and casting, and he goes on to classify the film “the biggest giant monster movie ever made.” Guillermo has a flair for verbal flair, but even with his boisterous sense of enthusiasm taken into account, that’s a bold claim and one I’m sure he’s up to.

Other tidbits emerging? The release date will be July 12th, 2013- a strong, heavy-hitting release date that is appropriate for a tentpole monster film with so much studio support. Of course Idris Elba has been cast, and there are also very strong rumors that Charlie Day will join the cast as a professor of some sort. I’m intrigued by the choice as Day has shown a touch of comedic range in his non-Sunny roles, but trying to reconcile the tone of his humor with what one expects from a movie like this is… tough. I’m excited to see what this means for the tonality of the film, and how much of that wry Del Toro humor will shine through in this huge monster movie.

Don’t expect to hear Guillermo or anyone else clear up much about the plot of the film anytime soon though, beyond the general synopsis of humans employing giant robots to fight monsters/aliens that we already know. I can personally assure you that Del Toro will be keeping details close to the chest as close to release as he’s able. While I don’t think there’s any Abrams-style obsession with secrecy, there’s also no reason Del Toro sees to push details out and decidedly reduce the mystery. There are definitely some casting confirmations yet to get out there though, and we should be hearing about those this week.

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