Well I’ll be (hopefully) damned!
With Mama creeping towards release and thus microphones creeping back in front of producer Guillermo Del Toro, the director has been letting loose words about all manner of subjects. Interestingly he today let Indiewire in on his plans to repackage At The Mountains Of Madness –complete with leading man Tom Cruise’s continued involvement– and take it back on the studio rounds. He doesn’t mention how that would fit into his obligations to Legendary with Crimson Peak, just that he’s going to test the waters once more…
“I’m going to try it one more time. Once more into the dark abyss. We’re gonna do a big presentation of the project again at the start of the year and see if anyone’s interested… Tom is still attached. I think it would be so fantastic to make it with him. He’s been such a great ally of the project.”
You may recall that Del Toro’s last decree on the subject was that Ridley Scott’s Prometheus may have rendered the film effectively redundant, at least for the time being. It would seem that upon actually seeing Scott’s film, Del Toro walked away convinced that actually wasn’t that case! Whether that’s because he didn’t feel the overlap was that great or because the film itself wasn’t that great is not entirely clear, but regardless he’s reattaching his climbing gear and setting off for the mountain once again.
“I saw it finally and.. yes, there are things in common, but, you know, screw it. Lovecraft was there first.”
Word. I’m still waiting for my terrifying, beautiful R-rated dread epic.
This is very pleasant news, and one hopes (and I’m rather confident) that Pacific Rim is well on its way towards being a big blockbuster hit for the director, proving once and for all that he can play to the big crowds. Will that open the doors to the icy world of Lovecraft for Del Toro at long last? Xirdneth willing.
P.S. Del Toro also updated us on the state of the Hulk TV show, which is to say there’s nothing on. A brief meeting about a writer after the release of The Avengers has given way to no discernable progress, according to the director.