it’s a hard core R rated movie and it’s a horror tentpole movie with a big budget

Guillermo del Toro just can’t get a break. After years of problems pushing The Hobbit into production, Universal have just shelved his next directing gig, At The Mountains Of Madness.

Del Toro had been prepping the 3D adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s novella with producer James Cameron. But the film’s $150m budget had Universal cowering, and they pulled the plug last Friday.

Instead, they want del Toro to take on PG monster movie Pacific Rim, which is set in a near future where humanity must band together to face malevolent monsters.

Del Toro has yet to make a decision about helming Rim, but Universal are apparently keen to have that as his next project – perhaps as a cheaper test for if they’ll eventually let him make Mountains Of Madness.

Considering the masses of pre-production the director’s already done for his Lovecraft adap – not to mention that it’s in firm ‘passion project’ terrain for him – we’re sure this isn’t the last we’ve heard of Mountains. We can but hope.

Read more: Guillermo del Toro set to take on Pacific Rim | TotalFilm.com

It may seem a bit hard to believe, but things haven’t been going so well for Guillermo del Toro over the last little while. With the endless list of projects he has been producing and overseeing, he now seems to be encountering some difficulty as he tries to find a new project to direct himself. After The Hobbit fell by the wayside last year, he set his sights on an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, a dream project that he had been pursuing for years. With James Cameron on board as a producer and Tom Cruise interested in starring, the project seemed like it was finally on the verge of getting greenlit. Unfortunately, we’re now hearing reports that Universal is still reluctant to finance the $150 million R-rated horror film, and del Toro is expected to move onto another project instead. That project is an original monster movie called Pacific Rim.

We first heard about Pacific Rim last summer, when it was announced that Legendary Pictures had picked it up as a pitch from Travis Beacham, screenwriter of the recent Clash of the Titans remake. At the time, the basic plot synopsis was as follows: “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.” Later in the year, it was rumoured that Legendary wanted to take this script and turn it into a new Godzilla movie, with Guillermo del Toro in mind to direct. Although the Godzilla tie-in no longer seems to be a possibility, Deadline New York is now reporting that Pacific Rim could very well end up being del Toro’s next project.

He has supposedly asked for a definitive yes or no from Universal by the end of today, and if they don’t want to do At the Mountains of Madness he will move on. It’s still possible that Madness could relocate to a different studio (James Cameron does have a strong relationship with Fox), but it definitely throws the project’s future in jeopardy. It’s hard to say whether or not any other studios will take a chance on it, since it just doesn’t seem possible for an R-rated horror movie to do blockbuster numbers. While this new project could have potential, it’s a shame to hear that Guillermo del Toro’s passion project may never see the light of day. What do you think, does Pacific Rim sounds like a good fit for Guillermo del Toro? Is Universal doing the right thing if they choose not to move forward with At the Mountains of Madness?

via filmjunk