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.

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.