Guillermo del Toro, At the Mountains of Madness

[Paul Baack]

Seriously, Kubrick's Shining is one of the best movies I've ever seen, horror or otherwise.  The moral here is that no matter how good an adaptation is, fans of the source material will hate it for being an adaptation.

Or, in fewer words: nerds are a tough crowd.

... Or fanboys.  Take a look at all the J.R.R. Tolkien purists who would like to see Peter Jackson hanged (at the very least) in effigy.  Or the way Anne Rice fanatics reacted to the casting of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.  (Full disclosure: I'm a hard-core James Bond fan -- see my website Her Majesty's Secret Servant -- and I had to suffer through TWELVE years of Roger Moore as 007.  So I have some sympathy.)  

[DMcCool]

like the exposition on the entire prehistory of the solar system derived from hieroglyphs on the walls, for one

I'd be happy to be see that turned into some sort of "mind meld" scene where we actually get flashbacks.  Maybe instead of heiroglyphs, the characters puts his hand on something that shoots the images into his brain.  Cue the CGI flashbacks.

[DMcCool]

Cruise could work.  He's a good enough actor... and the oddities and controversies of his personal life certainly don't show up on film.

I have to agree with that.  He may be a loon in his private life, but I have to admit he's a good actor.

[Kaelestes]

I'd love to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bob Hoskins in the film, but just so long as it's not another action blockbuster starring Christian Bale or Sam Worthington, I'll be happy.

[Nasserism]

I'd love to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bob Hoskins in the film, but just so long as it's not another action blockbuster starring Christian Bale or Sam Worthington, I'll be happy.

This movie definitely needs the man who brought First Mate Smee and Mario to life.

[Genus Unknown]

It's not on YouTube (yet), but GDT was on Craig Ferguson tonight, and after plugging a few other projects, hyped the hell out of AtMoM.

"I left [The Hobbit] about six months ago, and left New Zealand, and now I'm back in Los Angeles preparing At the Mountains of Madness, produced by Jim Cameron."

[GDT and Craig talk about H.P. Lovecraft and GDT's giant sausage fingers for a little while]

"It's something that hasn't been seen in a while; it's huge-budget, big tentpole horror. R-rated. And it's truly, we're creating creatures and monsters unlike anything you've ever seen. We've been designing them for several weeks, and about two weeks ago we were visited by Dennis Muren from ILM (Industrial Light and Magic). And I was very happy showing him the creatures, and he turned around and he said 'do you realize nobody has ever seen monsters like this? Ever.'"

[MAS]

...he turned around and he said 'do you realize nobody has ever seen monsters like this? Ever.'"

Oh please let it be true...
Please let it be happening!!  (Without Cruise)  The creature design in the troll market for GDT's 'Hellboy 2' was just outstanding.
Sounds like a cool interview to see I'll keep an eye out for it on youtube, cheers for the tip, Genus Unknown!

[stevenroy]

Here's the youtube link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Put4EvyyFYY

[MindlessFocus]

damn. i just dropped a small brick upon hearing him say that about AtMoM!!!

[whpugmire]

Upon returning home from HPLFF, S. T. found an email from del Toro requesting an exchange of phone #s.  It seems that del Toro may hire S. T. as some kind of consultant on the film.  This suggests to me that they want to make the film authentically Lovecraftian, however much they may need to alter or expand the story so as to fit it into a two or three hour film adaptation.

[MAS]

This suggests to me that they want to make the film authentically Lovecraftian, however much they may need to alter or expand the story so as to fit it into a two or three hour film adaptation.

Sounds like a two hour theatrical release followed up by a four hour uncut Director's version on DVD 

[Lambda]

This suggests to me that they want to make the film authentically Lovecraftian, however much they may need to alter or expand the story so as to fit it into a two or three hour film adaptation.

Sounds like a two hour theatrical release followed up by a four hour uncut Director's version on DVD 

Not necessary. If it's a truly Lovecraftian movie, they'll be able to squeeze 240 minutes into two hours by using non-euclidean dimensions. Now THAT would be a movie experience...

I'm really excited about this thing. I mean, it could be the first authentic hi-budget HPL adaptation ever. We have been waiting for this a very long time and now it might actually happen! Can't wait for some more info on it.

[Bassik]

I´m really excited about it, but I doubt it will be any betther then the HPL HS films. Either way, it´s good to see Lovecraft get the attention his works deserve.

[DMcCool]

I´m really excited about it, but I doubt it will be any betther then the HPL HS films. Either way, it´s good to see Lovecraft get the attention his works deserve.

So you think that Guillermo del Toro with the backing of James Cameron and likely some big name actor(s) will only produce something the quality of an indie film?  Not to downplay anything the HPLHS does (they do the best stuff out there, as far as I'm concerned), but they just don't have the resources that are going to go into this.  I expect something spectacular.

[fishy]

I´m really excited about it, but I doubt it will be any betther then the HPL HS films. Either way, it´s good to see Lovecraft get the attention his works deserve.

So you think that Guillermo del Toro with the backing of James Cameron and likely some big name actor(s) will only produce something the quality of an indie film?  Not to downplay anything the HPLHS does (they do the best stuff out there, as far as I'm concerned), but they just don't have the resources that are going to go into this.  I expect something spectacular.

Resources means nothing when it comes to the heart of a movie. You can use all the money you want and all the newest techniques. But if the heart is not there the only thing you will have is an expensive, impressive piece of **** ! That is why HPLHSs The Call of Cthulhu works, in spite of the non-existent budget.