Guillermo del Toro Talks More At the Mountains of Madness

[Rob71]

Ok, is this movie really going to happen? If there is any chance of a faithful adaptation of Lovecraft I would think del Toro would be the man. And this story has lots of potential.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/01/...ns-of-madness/

[Rob71]

I figured there would be at least a few HP Lovecraft fans here.

[Ukujiku]

Definitely love HP Lovecraft and have read that short story, it'll be intresting to see how they will pull that off if they do.

[theprophecy247]

i love del toro

[Belloche]

I want to see what he would do with it. Mountains is great for atmosphere, but it isn't exactly heavy on plot. Adapting Lovecraft is tricky. Stuart Gordon has fared better than most.

[indiephantom]

Love HP Lovecraft. Stuart Gordon has done some great adaptations. I think DelToro is a bad choice. Too much CGI and not enough left to the imagination.

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by indiephantom

Love HP Lovecraft. Stuart Gordon has done some great adaptations. I think DelToro is a bad choice. Too much CGI and not enough left to the imagination.

I don't know. After seeing The Orphanage and Pan's Labyrinth I think he could create a great atmosphere for this movie., which you need for Lovecraft. He's shown he doesn't need to follow the typical Hollywood template for his movies. Question is would he be allowed to create a true Lovecraft story or would he have to put in a love interest, a few shootouts and a nice tidy ending to make the "money-men" happy? Regardless, we need more faithful adaptations of Lovecraft stories, not someone buying the name to create a direct to video horror with a cool looking monster. But I do agree, Stuart Gordon's have been the better adaptations.

[Marquoz]

I don't think a Lovecraft movie would go over that well. The great thing about the book was you got to imagine the horror that was utterly indescribable. That kind of suspense doesn't seem like it would translate very well to the big screen in this day and age. I could see this having had worked about 20-30 years ago when they didn't show the killer/monster/whoever within 5 minutes of the movie starting. I just don't see audiences going to it in droves and it bombing because "nobody gets it".

That said... if it DOES come out, I will be there opening night sitting in line waiting!

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by Marquoz

I don't think a Lovecraft movie would go over that well. The great thing about the book was you got to imagine the horror that was utterly indescribable. That kind of suspense doesn't seem like it would translate very well to the big screen in this day and age. I could see this having had worked about 20-30 years ago when they didn't show the killer/monster/whoever within 5 minutes of the movie starting. I just don't see audiences going to it in droves and it bombing because "nobody gets it".

That said... if it DOES come out, I will be there opening night sitting in line waiting!

That's why I've gotten into foreign horror the last few years. Hollywood just seems content to churn out the same basic movie year after year, while Japanese/Korean/Thai film-makers really like to push the envelope. Not saying they don't churn out some clones also, but it's a lot easier to find the gems in Asian horror. European horror is also beginning to really impress me.

[cathexist]

Love HP Lovecraft...however, it will be years before this starts. The article was written in January, way before del Toro was confirmed for The Hobbit...which is now going to basically take up 5 years of his life in New Zealand.

del Toro would be a great director to bring Lovecraft to life, I hope it happens in the future.

[Batman1980]

In September of last year, we reported that Guillermo del Toro wanted Tom Cruise to star in At the Mountains of Madness. The film—which is based on the horror novella by H.P. Lovecraft and recounts a scientific expedition that uncovers ancient horrors dwelling in the mountains of Antarctica—has long been a passion project of del Toro’s and it looked like he was finally going to get it off the ground as a 3D film and with James Cameron attached as a producer. Cruise had been circling the role as recently as last month and it looks like he’s finally on board. Producer Don Murphy tells io9 that not only is Cruise attached to star, but filming is scheduled to begin in June.

Murphy also added that “the script is very close to the H.P. Lovecraft source material,” which I find puzzling. Hit the jump for my thoughts on Cruise signing on and the difficulty in adapting Lovecraft’s story.


I recently finished reading At the Mountains of Madness and while I envisioned the lead character of William Dyer to be slightly older and more professorial, I understand the financial need to cast an international star like Cruise if del Toro hopes for Universal to bankroll a special-effects heavy R-rated horror film. Presumably, Cruise will jump straight from Rock of Ages, which is reportedly set to shoot in May, to At the Mountains of Madness.

As to Murphy’s comment that “the script is very close to the H.P. Lovecraft source material,” I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration. We already know that del Toro wrote a new character for Ron Perlman and I think that’s a great idea. The book needs more characters if it’s going to work as a movie because the meat of the story, where Dyer and graduate student Danforth venture inside the mountains, is dialogue-free. In fact, it’s mostly Dyer and Danforth examining paintings and charting the rise and fall of ancient creatures known as “The Elder Things”.

Reading the novella, I have no doubt that del Toro will be able to visually interpret Lovecraft’s attention to detail (I personally found it too overwhelming and had trouble picturing the “Elder Things” in my head). But when it comes to the plot, he’ll have some work to do because a script that is “very close” to the source material is going to have some problems.

Source - http://collider.com/at-the-mountains...-cruise/79321/

[Taipan]

I hope this gets done!

Sounds like it is coming together for Del Toro.

[detective392]

Can't wait to see the finished project and really hope nothing get's in the way of the June shooting.

[Walts Ghost]

Originally Posted by Collider

Universal Has Killed 'At the Mountains of Madness'

Steve here. I’ve been told that Universal killed At the Mountains of Madness on Friday and del Toro is going to take on Pacific Rim as his next film. I’m sure this will all be worked out over the next few days. I’m just sad that one of my favorite filmmakers is having so many problems getting a film made.

Source

So lame....

[detective392]

Originally Posted by Walts Ghost

Source

So lame....

Wow that really sucks and I hope they get things worked out.

[jvince]

Originally Posted by Walts Ghost

Source

So lame....

That sucks... I guess it's obvious Hollywood will never give horror fans a big-budget movie.

[Pondosinatra]

Tom Cruise???

I just vomited in my mouth a little...

[Taipan]

Well that blows!

[Pondosinatra]

I'd like to see a movie based on the correspondence between Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, and how they both met tragic ends...

[Walts Ghost]

Originally Posted by Pondosinatra

Tom Cruise???

I just vomited in my mouth a little...

Well you don't have to worry about it considering the project is dead.

But I'll never understand the hate for Cruise. He may be crazy, but he's a great actor and I'd like to see him do more stuff because he doesn't do as much as he used to. He's made some of my favorite movies.