Del Toro’s Next is ‘At the Mountains of Madness’

Published by Jeff Leins on July 29, 2010

Prior to the start of Comic-Con and during the media swarm over his reboot of Disney’s The Haunted Mansion, Guillermo del Toro consistently told press that he would make an official announcement very soon on what would be his next directorial project.  Speculation has been rampant since del Toro’s departure from production on The Hobbit in May, especially since the filmmaker has always been open about the long list of potential projects on his proverbial plate.

The wait is over.  Guillermo del Toro will finally direct his adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness, a horror novella written by H. P. Lovecraft in 1931 about an expedition to Antarctica that uncovers the remains of ancient, alien lifeforms.  Their discovery awakens a dark, mysterious force.

Even better, according to Deadline James Cameron is producing del Toro’s take on the story at Universal and, of course, it will be shot in 3D.  That’s certainly a dream partnership, even if it’s only to swap secrets on the much misused technology.  Pre-production begins in “the next few weeks” for a shoot next summer.

In an interview with the LA Times, del Toro opened up about all things Hobbit and explained it wasn’t simply the delays due to MGM’s crippling debt.  He clarified that it wasn’t an issue with Peter Jackson, who was producing and collaborating on the script, but more about the political issues in coordinating their efforts between three separate studios.

Buried in that article was the Times’ sly mention of the title to del Toro who “flashed an impish grin and said, ‘We’ll see.’”  So, you see, it wasn’t much of a secret that this was his next film, particularly since he’s been passionate about it since writing the script in 2004.