Guillermo Del Toro is definitely a persistent guy. Last year, his long in the works video game, Insane, got shut down, but now it’s back up and running with a potential 2015 release date.
He’s also not giving up on his dream project, At the Mountains of Madness, but you also get the impression he may not be sticking with the concept much longer if it can’t come together.
As you may recall, Del Toro had Madness set up at Universal with Tom Cruise attached to star, and James Cameron producing. But even with a powerhouse team like that, the studio passed. Madness was going to be shot in 3D, but the potential cost of the film would be $150 million, and if Del Toro couldn’t get a PG-13 rating, Universal didn’t want to spend that much money on a movie that could be slapped with an R.
This was also the same year that Universal passed on The Dark Tower series for being too expensive and ambitious, and more Fast and Furious movies seemed a safer bet for the studio. As Indie Wire reports, Del Toro said, “I’m going to try it one more time. We’re gonna do a big presentation of the project again at the start of the year and see if any [studio’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.”
It was brought up to Del Toro that there are similarities to Madness and Prometheus. Del Toro said, “I finally saw [Prometheus] and yes, there are things in common, but you know, screw it. Lovecraft was there first [laughs].”
Del Toro was also asked about the Hulk TV series he’s been attached to, and he said he hasn’t heard anything since last May. “After The Avengers, there’s been complete radio silence.” Yet Shock Till You Drop confirmed that he’s working on his dark version of The Avengers with Swamp Thing, The Demon, John Constantine and others, and it’s currently going under the title Dark Universe (formerly Heaven Sent).
Interestingly, Del Toro is also one of a number of big name directors who has taken themselves out of the running for the next Star Wars film. It would be intriguing to see a Star Wars movie helmed by Del Toro, but he told the Hollywood Reporter his schedule is “busy enough. We got one phone call to my agent saying, ‘Is Guillermo interested?’ And basically I have so much stuff already of my own, and I’m pursuing stuff that I’m generating already…It was just a phone call, it didn’t go past that, it was very nice to be asked.”
