At the Mountains of Madness

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Exclusive: Del Toro Talks At the Mountains of Madness
The Lovecraft adaptation may be next for the helmer.

Guillermo del Toro is gearing up to shoot Hellboy 2: The Golden Army in January, but he's already planning his next project after that. In a chat with IGN, the fan favorite director revealed that his long-developing adaptation of HP Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness might be next on his schedule.

"Mountains of Madness, which is a project I've had for several years, if it comes to fruition I'd rather do that immediately while the iron is hot," del Toro says. "But it all depends on so many factors — creative, personal — that every time I predict what I'm going to do next, I fail."

Details on when/how/if the project is going to happen are sketchy, but del Toro has a clear idea of how he will portray the classic horror tale on screen, and he says it will definitely be a studio picture. Adapting Lovecraft's unique style to the movies has proven to be a difficult undertaking for filmmakers in the past, but the helmer says that he's enhanced At the Mountains of Madness' story (about an expedition to Antarctica that turns creepy fast) so that it will work on screen.

"The albino penguins, the gigantic city... The hard thing about that novel is it's very much a record of an expedition, so the narrative is brilliant in that it's a little bit dry but it's not character-based," he says. "There are many characters that you don't know — you don't even know who the hell the expedition is [made up of] until you have it referenced in another book of Lovecraft's."

Fleshing out those characters will be key to making the film work, he explains.

"You need to create the character dynamics and the arc of the story, which is not in the book," says del Toro. "Also, the horror in the book is only ambiguous and it's kept open at the end. And you can still capture that atmosphere, but then you have to take it and go to a climax [in the movie]. Which in the book is really a climax by almost using negative space in the narrative; it's what you don't see that makes it. That essentially goes against the very essence of show business, because you don't show anything. I think that what we're doing is good and it's as good as we can [do when] adapting Lovecraft. But it's a project that's been with us for several years now. It's not an easy project to set up."

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Del Toro Mounts Madness Next?

Writer/director Guillermo del Toro told SCI FI Wire that he'd like to direct a faithful film version of H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness as one of the projects he'd like to do next, right after he completes Hellboy 2 next year. "The whole idea of Lovecraft's position towards the universe, he's very much like an Albert Camus position," del Toro said in an interview, referring to the French novelist and philosopher, while promoting his next film, Pan's Labyrinth, in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Dec. 18. "He's an existentialist. He says the cosmos is indifferent to man. At the very best is indifferent. And [it] just [sees] us as fleas, or ... [is] hostile to us."

Del Toro, director of Hellboy and Blade II, has been developing a film version of Madness since at least 2003. Based on Lovecraft's 1931 novella, the story is written from the perspective of Professor William Dyer, a geologist from Miskatonic University, and takes place in Antarctica, where an expedition uncovers the remains of ancient creatures and evidence that they predate humans. When many members of the expedition are slaughtered, Dyer begins to realize that the creatures may have been destroyed by their servants, shapeshifting beings called "shoggoths," which may have survived. The novella is considered one of the key works in Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.

"So this sea of almost ... empty spaces is very hard to portray in film," del Toro said. "It's very hard to portray the fact that you are ... an ant in a picnic, and yet you have delusions of grandeur. That's what Lovecraft was saying. Our race as a whole are just arrogant little ants in a picnic. That's what Mountains of Madness are."

Del Toro would also like to shoot Montecristo, as well as a new version of Edgar Rice Burroughs' classic hero Tarzan, a project that was recently announced. "Tarzan I take on because I really think in a feverish state I do believe that there is a Tarzan to be made that is more fantastic and darker and different than the ones that have been made," he said. "So maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong; it's where we are."

Then there's Silver, which he would return to his native Mexico to film, he said. "I've been 13 years writing a screenplay called Silver," he said. "It's about wrestlers and vampires. But it's completely straight."

Del Toro added: "Look, if I had my choice, I would choose that after Hellboy [2], I could do Montecristo or Mountains of Madness right away. Those are my two." Pan's Labyrinth opens Dec. 29 in limited release before going wide in January.

[modage]

"A+" Script Review from Latino Review...

SPOILERS
http://www.latinoreview.com/scriptreview.php?id=43

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Exclusive Scoop: At The Mountains Of Madness Goes To......
Source: Latino Review

A lot of folks and readers have been asking what is Guillermo Del Toro doing next after Hellboy 2: The Golden Army?

Well thanks to "Anonymous" we know what he is doing next. It ain't TARZAN folks.  But yes Guillermo is still doing TARZAN, and they are still working on the script cause the script isn't finished just yet.

Anyway GDT next movie is.....

AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS his longtime passion project that he adapted from the novel by H.P. Lovecraft!  I know he's been wanting to do this for the longest and it was always said that he is doing it but GDT never had a home (Studio) for it.

The story follows explorers who journey to the Arctic where they uncover an ancient race of beasts.

It was our first script review of the 2007 new year, [see mod's post above].  That script is hot, and I can't wait to see it materialized.

AND The studio with Los cojones doing it with GDT?

Universal Pictures!

The film is also being produced by Susan Montford, Don Murphy's Angry Films producing.

According to our source, "The deal was finished two weeks ago" and at one point Warner Bros. Pictures wanted to do it with GDT as well.

The question now in Hollywood is can GDT & Universal Pictures do it, "pre-strike."  I guess GDT took my advice to heart and chose Lovecraft over the been there done that Tarzan.

Another scoop you can take to the bank...And now you will just have to wait for the Uwe Boll team; Variety or The Hollywood Reporter to confirm it in a few days, weeks or so, however long they usually take to confirm.

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Del Toro To Incite Audiences To 'Madness' With H.P. Lovecraft Project
Source: MTV

Soon the evil spawn will awaken to clear the earth of man. The Elder Gods will destroy us all. Pray only that Cthulhu eats you first.

Have no idea what we're talking about? Think a Cthulhu is something you order at a Mexican restaurant? Don't worry. If Guillermo del Toro has his way, the whole world will soon be chanting from the "Necronomicon," the director laughed, explaining to MTV News his grand vision to bring H.P. Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness" to the big-screen.

"I remember when I was a kid out of the studios came the big event horror movies, 'The Exorcist,' 'Alien,' 'Jaws,' 'The Shining,'" del Toro recalled. "It is my hope that this movie will be a tentpole movie [of that sort]. It has the scope of a Shackleton epic exploration movie but it's full of tentacled things."

Is it ever. Originally published in 1936, Lovecraft's "Madness" centers on a group of explorers who stumble onto an ancient city in Antarctica. There they find living creatures dubbed "Elder Things," living embodiments of fear and madness and pure crap your pants terror (Put THAT on a poster).

But to Del Toro, what makes the story particularly alluring is the opportunity it gives him to impose some of his own inventiveness.

"It's not hard to be faithful to Lovecraft because what is great about the novel is that it's a compilation of really dry scientific annotations that happen to be annotating something really scary. There is no character or dramatic thread," he insisted. "You take those document and you then create a story. If you were [just rigidly faithful] you would be doing a National Geographic special on a crew that disappeared in an exploration mission.

"I'm happy with [my script]," he continued. "I know some people would like a happier ending but I'm happy with the ending there is."

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Guillermo del Toro's Next Film Announced: The James Cameron-Produced 'At The Mountains Of Madness'
Source: ThePlaylist

Earlier today we were speculating what the next project from genre filmmaker Guillermo del Toro would be. He said at Comic-Con that it would be in 3D and that it would be "scary." The project that Deadline is breaking will be his next certainly falls into both categories.

It seems his long, long, long-in-the-works adaptation of the slender HP Lovecraft adventure/ horror novel "At The Mountains of Madness" will be the director's next project. It'll be shot in 3D and produced for Universal Pictures. The story goes (and is alluded to in the Deadline piece), that when del Toro came over to Universal to do the outstanding superhero fairy tale "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," Universal purchased the rights to "At the Mountains of Madness" from DreamWorks, where it was previously developed, to lure del Toro away from making "The Hobbit" films next. Well, now that "The Hobbit" has fallen through, "At The Mountains of Madness" moves forward.

The big story in all of this is that James Cameron, undisputed King of Pandora, will be producing the tale, which concerns an arctic expedition in the 1930s that uncovers something otherworldly. Hopefully the book's underlying anti-semitism has been cut out, leaving nothing but good, old fashioned spookhouse fun. Cameron doesn't throw his name out there willy-nilly, but he is willing to help out filmmakers whose genre projects need a little extra clout like Steven Soderbergh's overlooked "Solaris" remake at Fox, and ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow's apocalyptic "Strange Days" for the same studio, the latter for which he is also wrote.

Hopefully production will get underway next year and we'll all have a smart, brawny tentpole movie that is actually worth looking forward to.

[Pubrick]

i will ready my shoe for consumption if this thing turns out as good as it promises.

walking away from a billion dollars with PJ by your side is ONLY superceded (or at least equalled) by a passion project in 3D with James Cameron by your side. but i still think PJ is the better backer, Cameron's support is really barely seen in the films he graces with his name.

[Reinhold]

Steven Soderbergh's overlooked "Solaris" remake

does the guy who wrote that article lurk here?

[Fernando]

Universal Wants James McAvoy For 'Mountains Of Madness' But Guillermo Del Toro Wants Tom Cruise

As Guillermo Del Toro's "At The Mountains Of Madness" gears up to shoot next year, names of lead actors to front the expensive, James Cameron produced 3D film are beginning to surface and they couldn't be more different.

Collider reports that Universal and Del Toro are of different minds as to who should play the lead role of Dyer. Universal is apparently eying James McAvoy for the part while Del Toro wants Tom Cruise. Del Toro's choice isn't as strange as it sounds. Earlier this year it was revealed that Del Toro walked away from a gestating, Tom Cruise produced "Van Helsing" movie to make "At The Mountains Of Madness" and it seems like the director isn't yet ready to leave the actor behind.

Obviously, the actors represent two hugely different visions on where the film and character should go. Do you lead the film with a lesser known, but very much up-and-coming actor for a younger take on the role of Dyer or do you go with an A-list star who can guarantee international box office (even if domestically his name is a bit more of question mark) and make the hero a little older? It will certainly be interesting to see how this plays out.

With the film eyeing a May 2011 start, both actors would tentatively be free and clear do the film both having come off big franchise films; McAvoy with "X-Men: First Class" and Cruise with "Mission: Impossible 4."

We're sure Del Toro fanboys won't be happy to hear the director wants Cruise for the role, especially after an early review of the script reveals an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's book that is heavy on creatures and actions, but light on atmosphere. Cruise vs McAvoy: who would you pick?

http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2010/09/universal-wants-james-mcavoy-for.html


my two cents:

I like both actors, but i'd like that del toro gets away with it and casts cruise, the guy needs a fucking comeback and maybe guillermo can give it to him, even thou he's making mi4 with brad bird and that will probably be his comeback, but who knows, I just hope brad bird can do something fresh and awesome.

[polkablues]

James McAvoy is awesome and a great actor, while Tom Cruise is a nutcase. He had his run back before we knew he was a nutcase; he doesn't really need a comeback.

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Guillermo Del Toro Says 'Prometheus' Has Killed 'At The Mountains Of Madness' Because They Both Have The Same Final Twist
Source: Playlist

While Guillermo Del Toro fans are excited about the director's upcoming monster movie "Pacific Rim," they are still mourning the demise of  "At The Mountains Of Madness." A passion project for the helmer, the H.P. Lovecraft adaptation was kiboshed by Universal last spring, likely due to the high pricetag (said to be in the neighborhood of $150 million) and Del Toro's insistence on an R rating, something that would have made the financial profitability of the movie a tough sell, even with Tom Cruise attached to star. Over the summer, Del Toro revealed he was still hoping to make it saying that he's "not giving up. 'Mountains of Madness' has been with me for thirteen, fourteen years and I really don't want to give up on it. Look, the movies I do, I stick with them when I think, well, if I don't do it, nobody will....'Mountains of Madness,' the way I plan to do it is a very peculiar take, and I think if I don't stick with it the version I would like to see would never get made." Unfortunately, it looks like he's finally throwing in the towel.

Over at his official fansite Del Toro Films (via Prometheus Forum), the director has hit the message boards to reveal that Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" has effectively killed off his movie, not only due to thematic similiarities, but apparently, they both share the same climatic twist. Here's what he had to say:

Prometheus started filming a while ago- right at the time we were in preproduction on PACIFIC RIM. The title itself gave me pause- knowing that ALIEN was heavily influenced by Lovecraft and his novella.

This time, decades later with the budget and place Ridley Scott occupied, I assumed the greek metaphor alluded at the creation aspects of the HPL book. I believe I am right and if so, as a fan, I am delighted to see a new RS science fiction film, but this will probably mark a long pause -if not the demise- of ATMOM.

The sad part is- I have been pursuing ATMOM for over a decade now- and, well, after Hellboy II two projects I dearly loved were not brought to fruition for me.

The good part is: One project did... And I am loving it and grateful for the blessings I have received.

Onwards.

Del Toro also adds that not only do 'Madness' and "Prometheus" share a Lovecraft connection, he believes that even down to specific sequences, and the big reveal, the two films would be too similar. "Same premise. Scenes that would be almost identical. Both movies seem to share identical set pieces and the exact same BIG REVELATION (twist) at the end. I won't spoil it," he added. Without going too far into it, both stories concern teams of scientists/adventurers coming face to face with ancient/lost civilizations.

Perhaps once the dust settles, Del Toro may find a different way to approach 'Madness' but considering how faithfully he wanted to adapt the material, it seems "Prometheus" has taken the wind out of sails by touching upon the same core ideas. A bit of a bummer to be sure, and it seems for now, 'Mountains' will no longer be a peak Del Toro is seeking to climb.