Guillermo Del Toro Will Make One More Attempt To Summit At The Mountains Of Madness
This article is more than 2 years old
With the success of films like Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth behind him, and the massive, robots-versus-monsters spectacle of Pacific Rim looming on the horizon, you’d think that Guillermo del Toro would be able to do whatever the hell he wants. That’s not the case, however. One of his big passion projects is an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s horror classic, At the Mountains of Madness, a film he’s never been able to get off the ground, despite the fact that Tom Cruise has been linked to the film.
Universal killed the project in 2011 because of the budget concerns, and because del Toro was adamant about an R rating. Last summer, when Prometheus hit theaters, del Toro said that Ridley Scott’s film would render Madness a moot point by treading similar thematic ground. But then he saw Prometheus, decided not so much, and is going to take one more swing at the Lovecraft story. As he told The Playlist, “There are things in common, but, you know, screw it. Lovecraft was there first.”
He continued:
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 any [studio’s] interested.
It seems like he’s been working on Madness for forever, and while the road has been bumpy, I want to see him complete the film. There’s no one I can think of in Hollywood who can handle this subject matter like del Toro. Both visually, and subject-wise, this is right up his alley. And given his excitement for this particular story, you know he’d pour in everything he has.
The film also comes with something else that should pique studio interest: one of the biggest movie stars in history. When asked if Cruise is still interested, del Toro replied, “Yeah, 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.”
That’s one hell of a package, a director like del Toro, and a star with the box office draw of Cruise. Some studio is sure to bite on a deal like that, even with the money and the rating.
At the Mountains of Madness tells the story of an Antarctic expedition that, after crossing a mountain range taller than the Himalayas, discover a sinister ancient secret as old as the Earth itself.
