So much for that. Yesterday, I reported Tom Cruise landed the starring role in Guillermo Del Toro’s “At The Mountains of Madness.” However, as of today, the project is dead. Due to the projected high price tag, Universal Pictures will only finance “Madness” if it’s rated PG-13, but Guillermo Del Toro is determined that it stay Rated R due to the adult content.
In a statement released to The New Yorker, Del Toro said the following in a brief, morose e-mail.
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“Madness has gone dark. The ‘R’ did us in.”
Del Toro had hoped that making “Madness” would raise the bar for horror movies. Not necessarily in gore, but psychologically, which “At The Mountains of Madness” would have been, a psychological horror film. It truly saddens me to hear this news. Del Toro was very excited about this project and was very passionate about bringing it to fruition, as was James Cameron.
All is not lost, however; as Del Toro may shop the film to another studio. The Hollywood Reporter suggests Fox would be the likely choice given the James Cameron connection. In the meantime, Del Toro is set t work on a different project with creatures, just not that of the terrifying variety. Legendary Pictures may have signed the “Pans Labyrinth” director to helm their go at the extraterrestrials vs humans genre titled, “Pacific Rim.”
But if you are in need of a Guillermo Del Toro fix this year, the remake “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” directed by Troy Nixey, will hit theaters Aug. 12. Distributed by Mirimax and FilmDistrict, Del Toro produced and co-wrote the screenplay with Matthew Robbins (“At The Mountain of Madness,” “Pinocchio”).
Don’t let the dreaded word remake detour you from watching Nixey and Del Toro’s reinvisioning of the horror classic. What was previewed of at Comic-Con last summer was quite eerie and mirrors the creep factor of the original.
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