Many top film directors have no idea what their next movie is. But Guillermo del Toro is now booked through 2017. And maybe beyond.

Universal — which has a three-year first-look deal with the helmer inked in June ’07 — and del Toro are making a long-term commitment by setting up four directing projects, including remakes of "Frankenstein," "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and "Slaughterhouse-Five."

The fourth project is an adaptation of "Drood," a Dan Simmons novel acquired by U that will be published in February by Little, Brown.

Of course, del Toro’s first priority is New Line and MGM’s "The Hobbit," to which he has committed the next five years. He has begun writing "Hobbit" with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, collaborating via video conferencing and trips to New Zealand every three weeks.

While it’s difficult, if not impossible, to plan projects five years into the future, at this point U execs think "Drood" is the most likely to be del Toro’s first post-"Hobbit" directing vehicle.

If both sides have their way, the helmer will belong to Universal after "The Hobbit" wraps.

In addition to the four pics, the studio still has its sights set on del Toro’s pet project, an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s "At the Mountains of Madness."

As if that is not enough to keep him busy, U also has on the horizon an adaptation of David Moody’s apocalyptic novel "Hater" that del Toro will produce with Mark Johnson but not direct, and "Crimson Peak," a gothic romance spec script by del Toro and his "Mimic" collaborator Matthew Robbins, which del Toro will produce but not direct.

While he busies himself with "Hobbit," del Toro will outline the other projects and hire writers. The pics will be supervised at del Toro Prods. by his manager, Gary Ungar, who’ll be exec producer of the films and will oversee the slate with development director Russell Ackerman and U exec Scott Bernstein.

"No one expected ‘The Hobbit’ to come about; it was the most marvelous monkey wrench tossed into my life," del Toro said. "I consider (the new deals) the renewal of my marital vows with Universal."

U production prexy Donna Langley said the helmer’s "Hobbit" hiatus will only delay plans to dive into the del Toro business.

"We came out the other side of some tough conversations with a stronger bond and sense of long-term commitment," Langley said. "Guillermo is in the most prolific time of his life … Joe Johnston on ‘The Wolf Man’ showed us the importance of entrusting the Universal franchise monsters to experienced filmmakers with voices. That was a big impetus for our decision to go with Guillermo to put his creative stamp on these properties."

Langley said she is intrigued by "Drood," in which Simmons supposes that survival from a catastrophic train crash changed author Charles Dickens, plunging him into the depths of London depravity and possibly turning him to murder before he wrote his final novel, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood."

"It’s the fantasy and gothic horror world Guillermo finds comfortable," Langley said. "It feels like a great fit for where (we expect) Guillermo will have evolved as a filmmaker five years from now."

Frankenstein represents a longtime fascination for del Toro, who has made his home a memorabilia shrine to the Karloff monster from the 1931 U film.

"To me, Frankenstein represents the essential human question: ‘Why did my creator throw me here, unprotected, unguided, unaided and lost?’ " del Toro said. "With that one, they will have to pry it from my cold dead hands to prevent me from directing it."

On "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," del Toro wants to stick more closely to Robert Louis Stevenson’s prose and explore the addictive high the repressed Jekyll experienced as his murderous alter ego.

Del Toro plans to provide a more literal interpretation of "Slaughterhouse-Five" than in the 1972 film adaptation, hewing closely to the Vonnegut novel about a prisoner in a German WWII POW camp who travels through time and space.

"There are ways that Vonnegut plays with and juxtaposes time that was perhaps too edgy to be tackled on film at that time," del Toro said.

Meanwhile, del Toro is awaiting word on whether U will embrace a follow-up to "Hellboy 2: The Golden Army." The big-budget film opened in the heat of summer and fell short of blockbuster status in the U.S. but has performed well overseas.

"I think they’ll decide when the last euro hits the piggybank," del Toro said. "We laid the groundwork to have a magnificent third act. I’d like to return to an action franchise with 60-year-old actor Ron Perlman, because he’ll be scratching at that age when I get to it."

Langley said the studio is interested and may work with del Toro to add a TV series and online segments to broaden the following before making the series finale.

Shock Till You Drop: The classic Universal monster films form a kind of religion for you…

Guillermo Del Toro: The most exciting thing for me is to think that as a kid – this in my biography – there was a moment of pure joy. Because I’m here talking about movies I love that I discovered as a child, that discovered for me a whole different way of making horror films, with humanity and beauty, with compassion, with power. And I really, really couldn’t be happier to be here. I know it sounds like a cliche, but it’s a dream come true.

Shock: Have you seen any of the new prints yet?

Del Toro: No, that’s what I told my wife. I said, “I want to see The Man Who Laughs, the brand-new print. I want to see this, The Bride of Frankenstein, the brand-new print, Creature from the Black Lagoon…” I’m very happy. [laughs]

Shock: Can you say where your own Frankenstein film project is right now?

Del Toro: Yeah, actually [Universal Pictures Co-Chairman] Donna Langley just put us on track to write the screenplay. So, we’re going to start writing the script. It’s a very long endeavor for me; it’s going to require a couple of years just to write it. But it’s been put back on track by Donna.

Shock: How has the story remained relevant?

Del Toro: I think it will never go away. Because some figures you can reinterpret in so many ways. You can do Tarzan in space, Tarzan in the future, Tarzan in the past. You can do Frankenstein as a metaphor for consumerism. You can do Frankenstein as a metaphor for the loneliness of man. You can do Sherlock Holmes in London 2012. You can do Sherlock Holmes in World War II. They are timeless. So Frankenstein is one of these characters, in this gallery, that belong to humanity. Their stories will be repeated time and again, and we will be telling them for as long as we are human.

Shock: One could argue there’s never been an entirely successful version of Frankenstein that’s remained very faithful to Shelly’s novel. Do you see yours as that version, or will it be a looser interpretation?

Del Toro: I think the moment that the only quality you can claim is faithfulness… It’s a very difficult, tricky slope. Because then anytime that you deviate from that, you’re betraying the very goal you submitted. I’m being very faithful to trying to encompass the whole narrative of the novel. I’m being very faithful in that I’m trying to capture the spirit of the novel, when I read it as a kid, and how it impacted me. I recognize that it’s both biography and prophecy about my life. It’s a very personal film. In many ways it’s the most personal film I’ll ever make, because my connection with the creature is very profound and deep and I don’t think there’s any other monster that has affected me as much.

Shock: So, you want to take as much time as required to get it exactly right?

Del Toro: Yeah, that also means that I’ve been avoiding it in a cowardly way for many years. [Laughs.] It’s something that I’ve been… not quite so much reticent about as I’ve been mindful and cautious. But borderline avoiding. Because I really think it’s going to be the one movie that I feel is gonna signify [me] more than any other in my life.

Shock: Another project you’ve had in development that’s reminiscent of Frankenstein in some respects – as well as Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – is the Hulk TV show. Can you say where that project stands right now?

Del Toro: Right now all I know is the official word I was given is that there’s a writer they want. They are very interested in me meeting with him. He’s very, very busy. The official word is we are holding, but I don’t know… After Avengers having the success it had, perhaps the fate of the project may change. Right now officially what I know – and I’m not hiding anything off the record or anything – is that we were told we were waiting for this writer, and we were going to do it with him.

Shock: If it moves forward, would you still like to direct the pilot?

Del Toro: Of course. The reason is that the superheroes I like and that I would like to get involved with are all monsters. Be it Swamp Thing, Etrigan [the Demon], Doctor Strange – which is not a monster, but…

Shock: A dark fantasy saga.

Del Toro: Yeah. Certainly supernatural. I would love to do Morbius [the Living Vampire], Blade – they have to be monsters for me to be involved.

Shock: Thank you very much, Guillermo.

Del Toro: Sure, my pleasure!