Another Look At Martin Freeman As Bilbo Baggins

Ron Perlman Joins Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim

Director Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labryinth) confirmed to Wired that Ron Perlman (Drive, Enemy At The Gates) has been added to the cast of his giant monster/robot mash-up Pacific Rim. Perlman has previously worked with Guillermo on Hellboy 1-2, Blade 2, Cronos, and was going to have a role in the canceled At The Mountains of Madness. The film stars Ron's Sons of Anarchy co-star Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba (Luther, Thor, Wire, Prometheus) and Charlie Day (Horrible Bosses). The epic monster sci-fi flick will be released on May 10th 2013.

"We are working with actors that I absolutely adore," he continues. "Idris Elba, Charlie Day, Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman. It's really, it's a very, very beautiful poem to giant monsters. Giant monsters versus giant robots. Twenty-five-story-high robots beating the crap out of 25-story-high monsters. We're trying to create a world in which the characters are real and how it would affect our world politically, how it would affect the landscape if creatures like this really came out of the sea, etc."

Charlie Day In Talks For Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim

Variety reports that funny man Charlie Day from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia is in talks for role in Pacific Rim. The film directed by Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy 1-2) focuses on a group of soldiers who fight unspeakable giant monsters who rise out of the Pacific Ocean with massive robots they pilot. Charlie Hunnam is set for the lead with Idris Elba in talks as well. Day would play a professor in the film.

Idris Elba Could Join Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim

TheWrap reports that Legendary Pictures and director Guillermo del Toro are looking at casting Idris Elba (Prometheus, The Wire, Thor, Ghost Rider 2) in Pacific Rim. Elba has also been rumored for talks to take a role in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. He would join Charlie Hunnam (Children of Men, S.O.A.) in the film if cast. The story is set in a future in which an alien attack threatens the existence of earth. Humans battle the nasty and brutal creatures by piloting giant robots.

The film sounds like it could be a replacement for Hellboy fans waiting on the third installment. So I'm excited to see del Toro finally choose his next him let's hope nothing goes wrong between now and post-production. Elba has been focusing on a lot of genre based projects lately so Pacific Rim seems a good fit.


 

Updates & Images From The Guillermo Del Toro Produced Pinocchio

When it was first announced back in 2008 the Guillermo del Toro produced stop-motion animated Pinocchio sounded excellent. A darker than usual take on the classic tale from director/artist Cris Grimley which was going to be handled by The Jim Henson Company (Where The Wild Things Are, Dark Crystal, Labyrinth). The dolls being designed by MacKinnon and Saunders who did an amazing job with Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox. Now I've discovered some concept artwork along with the first official image of Pinocchio via BleedingCool. The site also mentions that legendary musician Nick Cave (Proposition, Wettest County) will be handling the film's music/score.

Tom Cruise Confirmed For Oblivion/Horizions & Circling Del Toro's Pacific Rim

Deadline has confirmation that Tom Cruise has signed on for the lead in Joseph Kosinski's (Tron Legacy) Oblivion (aka Horizons). The science fiction action film that shoots this fall was originally setup at Disney but eventually moved over to Universal.

Oddly enough it's the same studio that passed on a Tom Cruise starring At The Mountains of Madness that would have been directed by Guillermo del Toro. Cruise is also circling a role in del Toro's Pacific Rim which shoots this summer and Charlie Hunnam is in talks for a part.

Charlie Hunnam Could Star In Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim

HeatVision reports that Charlie Hunnam (Green Street Hooligans, Children of Men, SOA) is in talks for the lead role in Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim. The film that starts production this summer/fall focuses on a group of humans who pilot giant robots to fight massive monsters that appear out of the Pacific Ocean.

Neil Gaiman Hired To Write Journey To The West Film, Guillermo Courted To Direct & James Cameron Will Consult

Variety reports that Neil Gaiman has been hired to write a film based on Journey To The West. The classic 500 year old tale that follows events that befall the Monkey King, armed with a magic staff, as he journeys with a monk, a pig spirit and a fish spirit to India to retrieve Buddha’s scrolls in an effort to find enlightenment.

They go on to say that Guillermo del Toro is being offered to direct while James Cameron would consult with the script and the 3D side of things. The tale was recently turned into a stage musical by the fellows behind the Gorillaz and I hope their artwork ends up being used as inspiration. While some might cringe to the idea of Westerners taking on the Asian tale it seems to be in good hands at the moment as everyone involved is respectful to original material.

Guillermo del Toro Will Make Pacific Rim For Legendary Pictures

Deadline was able to have a Q&A with Guillermo del Toro about the whole Universal/Mountains sitution. He would have to wait a while before Universal would release the project so it can be offered to other studios. This is why he's committed to shooting Pacific Rim for Legendary Pictures which he's been quietly developing on his own. Rim will start shooting in September with a summer 2013 release date.

Set in a future in which malevolent creatures threaten the earth, the planet must band together and use highly advanced technology to eradicate the growing menace. Legendary Pictures bought the pitch from Clash of The Titans writer Travis Beacham.

"I can only say I was very happy to be able to develop it under the radar in many ways. People got it confused with the Godzilla movie a few months ago but we cleared that up. I can say the scope and imagination that have been outlined in it are absolutely appealing to me. I cannot say more, it’s not the time."

Guillermo Confirms At The Mountains of Madness Is Dead

It's amazing how quickly these stories go from zero to sixty in a short amount of time. Just last night rumors were circling of a June start for Guillermo del Toro's At The Mountains of Madness. Along with that Universal had been pegged as passing on it because of the price tag and the rating. Now CriterionCast has confirmation from the director himself the project is indeed dead.

There aren't any details being released it's unknown at this point if the producers are able to move the project over to 20th Century Fox. Yet what is known is that this is crushing for the director as this was his dream project. This has to be the worst move by Universal as I think this could lead to del Toro walking from future films with the studio.

Guillermo del Toro Could Make Pacific Rim Before At The Mountains of Madness?

Last year everything looked good for Guillermo del Toro until he had to leave The Hobbit because of MGM's money issues. Then he went on to make At The Mountains of Madness with Tom Cruise attached in the lead role. Now there is word Universal isn't happy with the budget or the film's rating. Currently it would cost $150 million to make the R-rated horror film and that's not including the marketing fees. Universal has been plagued with many poor decisions lately and are not taking up any risky projects like Mountains. Even if del Toro is the creative mind behind the camera and script. Along with James Cameron as the producer and working on the film's 3D effects.

There is word from Deadline that they could move the project to the James Cameron friendly Fox who would be willing to shell out the $150 million needed. They also mention that if these problems keep persisting Guillermo might have to push pause on the project all together. This would mean he'd look to Legendary Pictures' (Warner Bros.) massive monster movie Pacific Rim as his next movie instead.

Universal really seems to have something against the genre as they bumped The Thing prequel from April to October and have yet to release a trailer which has already been played in theaters. Not to mention international markets would love this film as it's similar to Lord of The Rings in scope. Plus the bloated ticket prices for a 3D film would also bump up the box office takes. While it sounds risky on paper it's a dream project for Guillermo and Universal should be understanding of that if they want him to direct multiple films for the studio. Previously the director signed on to direct a bunch of films for the studio which includes a new Frankenstein film. Personally I'd rather see the film at another studio if it means the original vision is made.

Dark Horse Comic's Mike Richardson Hints B.P.R.D. Film

President of Dark Horse Comics Mike Richardson spoke to MTV about future films based on their comics. He revealed that since Guillermo del Toro is busy with other projects we could see a B.P.R.D. film before Hellboy 3. Guillermo del Toro previously told MTV that he'd give his blessing for another director to make a B.P.R.D. spin-off while he was busy with other things.

"There are some other projects Guillermo is working on right now, but you might be more likely to see a 'B.P.R.D.' movie before another 'Hellboy' movie," 

Doug Jones who plays Abe Sapien spoke to FearNet on the possibility of a B.P.R.D. film.

"That's another comic book series that Mike Mignola wrote in that same Hellboy universe. Abe Sapien is the central character/creature in that. So that would be an answer too. And that would probably be a property that Guillermo del Toro wouldn't need to direct himself, and that Universal would be happy to do with another director. With Hellboy III I think they're really holding out for him, for Guillermo."


The last thing we saw in Hellboy 2 the group resigned from the agency and I'm sure would need replacements. The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense has plenty of agents in the comics. So it's possible unused characters could be showcased in the spin-off. Agents like Roger, Dr. Kate Corrigan, Ben Daimio, Panya and Professor Donnell likely would be involved in the spin-off. Introducing a new team could be a great setup for Hellboy 3. It could also be an excellent opportunity to tell the origin story of Lobster Johnson as well.

James McAvoy Briefly Talks At The Mountains of Madness

It had been reported by Collider that James McAvoy had been Universal's choice the play the lead role in At The Mountains of Madness. While Guillermo del Toro had been campaigning to get Tom Cruise in the part. Tom and del Toro had been talking about making a new Van Helsing film before it got axed to make Mountains which was reported by Vulture. There is also word from Deadline that Cruise is aiming for supporting role in the musical Rock of Ages but is still attached to Mountains. Ron Perlman (Hellboy1-2, Blade 2) seems to be the only person currently cast in the film when Guillermo announced to MTV writing a role just for him.

Currently promoting a new film James McAvoy was asked by CinemaBlend about At The Mountains of Madness. He seems to playing it safe not coming out and confirming or denying his involvement.

"I don’t know anything about the story, but he’s an amazing director. I would be very lucky to be able to work with someone like that one day."

Based on the classic science fiction horror story by H.P. Lovecraft. A group of scientists and archaeologists travel to Antartica on an expedition in the early 1920's. There they stumble upon the ancient relics of an abandoned city hitherto completely unknown to mankind and uncover a prehistoric species that is awakened only to wreak havoc on their victims.

It's been a passion project for Guillermo del Toro and has even the caught the attention of long time friend James Cameron who is producing. Guillermo has written the film and will direct now that he's left The Hobbit. It's expected to be shot in 3D and it's effects are sure to be a blend of practical makeup, puppets and CGI. That along with his amazing touch of detail to his sets, characters and monsters it should be another quality horror film.

Ron Perlman Talks Hellboy 3

Hellboy actor Ron Perlman spoke with Examiner about his current and upcoming projects. While Perlman seems uncertain of his role (confirmed by del Toro) in Guillmero del Toro's At The Mountains of Madness he does speak enthusiastically about Hellboy 3. 

I hope there’s a third "Hellboy," simply because he always thought of it as a trilogy. And when he set up that [Liz Sherman, Hellboy’s love interest] is pregnant with twins at the end of "Hellboy 2," he kind of sketched out what the third "Hellboy" movie would look like. It’s so theatrical. It’s so epic. It’s so dark.

And also, we have to find out about the Hellboy destiny. It’s written in stone that he’s going to destroy mankind. That’s what he’s been brought to Earth to do. So the whole dialogue between nurture and nature gets to live itself out in the third "Hellboy" movie. But if there’s no third one, then the audience doesn’t get to see any of that.

Del Toro To Write & Direct Trollhunters For Dreamworks

It's not often that high profile directors make the jump to animated films but there's one now. HeatVision reports Guillermo del Toro has signed on to write and direct Trollhunters for Dreamworks Animation. This comes after the director was inspired by the studios gamble on high concept animated film How To Train Your Dragon. The film blew audiences and critics way which could finally see the studio take the Oscar from Pixar. While Guillermo is beyond busy with other projects I don't expect this one to take up much of his time. He's putting the finishing touches on the script before starting production on At The Mountains of Madness. We could see Trollhunters being his next film when Madness wraps post-production. He'll also act as a consultant and executive producer on Kung Fu Panda 2.

Del Toro Talks At The Mountains of Madness

 Guillermo del Toro's next film At The Mountains of Madness is quickly becoming one of my most anticipated new films in development. Being a massive fan of the writer/director/producer I've come to expect nothing but expertise in all things horror. So when he started adapting H.P. Lovecraft's thrilling horror novel I got excited. We started hearing casting rumors of actors such as James McAvoy and Tom Cruise. MTV was able to get del Toro to comment on one person he'd love to see in the film. Of course that would be Ron Perlman who has previously worked with Guillermo on four films (Hellboy 1-2, Blade 2, Cronos).

 "All I can tell you is if Ron Perlman is free, he will be in....I wrote a part for him. He read it and if everything falls in place, Ron Perlman has a role in it written specifically for him."

Also, Guillermo recently talked to the NYTimes about creating the look of his creatures for the film. He gets to work with a blank canvas since Lovecraft really left the imagery to the reader's imagination. 

"We've been designing for the last 3-weeks. It's being produced by James Cameron, who's been a friend for 20-years," del Toro said, "we have avoided working together until the time came for the right project. Obviously, the difference between the novella and the movie is that Lovecraft had a gift for making everything specifically ambiguous. He would say 'the leering face loaded with madness,’ or 'the evil perverse entity of unnamable'… everything was unnamable, indescribable. When you're reading you go,'Whoa!' your brain fills those spaces. For every creature, everyone has a secret mental image of what those creatures look like. It's going to be impossible to please everyone."

"I've been thinking of those monsters for twenty years. Fortunately for me no one has done monsters like the ones I'm doing. In all the movies ever made there's never been monsters like the ones we're doing. About two weeks ago we were visited by Dennis Muren. He looked at the designs, and he turned to us and said, 'No one has seen monsters like this ever.' I was like, [boyish grin] 'Yeah!' I was happy and vindicated and all that."

Guillermo del Toro's At The Mountains of Madness Updates

Guillermo del Toro announced back in July his next film would be an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's At The Mountains of Madness. The film is being produced by James Cameron which will be shot in 3D May 2011. The story is written in first-person perspective by the geologist William Dyer, a professor from Miskatonic University. He writes to disclose hitherto unknown and closely kept secrets in the hope that he can deter a planned and much publicized scientific expedition to Antarctica. On a previous expedition there, a party of scholars from Miskatonic University, led by Dyer, discovered fantastic and horrific ruins and a dangerous secret beyond a range of mountains taller than the Himalayas.


Wired recently spoke to producer James Cameron about the project and he compares the film to his own Aliens. "In this particular case, I’m working with Guillermo because I enjoy his company, and a creative collaboration is something that we’ve talked about doing for a long time," Cameron tells Wired. "It’s going to be an epically scaled horror film and we haven’t seen anything like that in a really long time — I guess since ALIENS."


Collider has learned that Universal wants to hire James McAvoy for the lead while Guillermo wants Tom Cruise.

Guillermo del Toro Announcing Next Film At Comic-Con

DelToroFilms has word from Guillermo del Toro he will be announcing his next film until Comic-Con. With his exit from The Hobbit people have been curious to what the director will do next. Guillermo has three comic book projects in the works which include Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange, Hellboy 3 and Deadman. There are also plenty of horror projects he could be tackling but my assumption is that if he's using Comic-Con as a forum it's likely comic related.

"Van Helsing (writing and producing) is still in talks and not quite certain. Even then, I would like to share my plans only at COMICON. I am taking it slowly and marking very, very carefully the calendar of projects that I will be involved as producer, writer, etc I will not announce the project I intend to direct until then . I am very happy to say that all the projects and partnerships being considered are both quite surprising and, I hope, powerful. Much as I want, I cannot say much more at this time but I anxiously await to share these with you. I will be shopping on the floor in San DIego for several days. See you there!!"

Guillermo del Toro Developing Van Helsing Film

Pajiba says that Guillermo del Toro is adding another project to his increasing list of films in development. They report that Guillermo will be helping Universal Pictures with new a Van Helsing action film. Don't get this confused with the horrible Hugh Jackman film this will retain it's horror roots. Del Toro is one greatest contemporary horror directors and understands the extensive vampire lore. He's previously directed the outstanding Blade II and even come out with a trilogy of vampire novels The Strain. While he will be responsible for the film's story it's unlikely that he will direct. Universal is also working with del Toro on new Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde films.

Guillermo Del Toro Leaves The Hobbit, So What's Next?

Guillermo del Toro has announced on TheOneRing he will be stepping downa as director for The Hobbit. There has been talk for months of problems with MGM dealing with it's finical troubles which had been hindering the production start. I expect that Peter Jackson will wait it out then jump on board to diret the two films.

"In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming “The Hobbit,” I am faced with the hardest decision of my life. After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures. I remain grateful to Peter, Fran and Philippa Boyens, New Line and Warner Brothers and to all my crew in New Zealand. I’ve been privileged to work in one of the greatest countries on earth with some of the best people ever in our craft and my life will be forever changed. The blessings have been plenty, but the mounting pressures of conflicting schedules have overwhelmed the time slot originally allocated for the project. Both as a co-writer and as a director, I wish the production nothing but the very best of luck and I will be first in line to see the finished product. I remain an ally to it and its makers, present and future, and fully support a smooth transition to a new director."


So what's next for Guillermo? There seems to be lots of projects he could take on which include a new Frankenstein film for Universal Pictures. There has been talk of him directing Doctor Strange for Marvel Studios. Hellboy 3 has also been in development which would be the final movie in the series.