Guillermo del Toro, At the Mountains of Madness

[MartinRonnlund]

Lets not forget Rollins as Spider in Johnny Mnemonic, good stuff.

[Jack]

Here's a great video on why this turned out like it did:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/3281-The-Numbers

[MediaGhost]

MovieBob has it just about exactly right.  Universal balked at Del Toro's ATMOM largely over the 'R' rating and financial difficulties.

[catamount]

Let's look on the upside, folks...we'll get to see ANOTHER Fast and the Furious

[canadiancthulhu]

I've always felt that the FatF movies would be better named the Loud and the Obnoxious.   That's my humble opinion though...

[Bob Lovecraft]

I'm just pissed that i never got to see any full frontal from the girls in the first movie.

Bob

[Lambda]

MovieBob has it just about exactly right.  Universal balked at Del Toro's ATMOM largely over the 'R' rating and financial difficulties.

Mmh, my bet would be on the money, to be honest. The Universal guys knew right from the beginning that the movie would get a high rating. I mean, you just can't make a horror movie with a PG rating.

[Eric Lofgren]

That's a pretty accurate description in that video I think. It's a shame that this is the case. But these days, there is no longer anyone who wants to gamble on movies in the hope they at least break even or give a return in investment which could include the secondary home market. Look at Bladerunner and more to the point, The Thing. Both movies flopped at the theatre. And then look at how much they endeared themselves to their fans and are still making money on dvd sales. Whether that's a good model to base a big budget release is very questionable. In both cases they were big production numbers made at a time when the secondary home market wasn't what it was today. I don't think any big production movie will ever be made pinning such high hopes on the dvd market. Although I'm sure Jackson might have something to say about that

To the topic at hand regarding AtMoM, I really don't get why del Toro's insisting on an R rating. This movie could easily be made without. I'm sure Lovecraft never intended this story to be read or interpreted in such a strongly graphic manner. And when you think of it, most Lovecraft fans are getting tired of seeing hackneyed R rated gore fests intended as Lovecraft adaptations (not that I think del Toro would actually do that with this story). But I think for that point alone he should reconsider if he wants more support for this movie. Especially from the fan base. I dunno, just my couple 'a' cents on the matter. Ultimately, I would love to see this movie get made. Even with Cruise    

[Jack]

A good third of the novel (or a bad third, depending) is two people describing artwork, and while he could go the Dinner With Andre approach for that, it seems more likely that he would actualy show the Old Ones getting their interstellar asses handed to them by all sorts of other even crazier monsters (like the beginning of Hellboy II, minus the puppets), which by itself might warrant an R rating; and juxtaposed with (spoilers; highlight it) the massacre of Lake's camp, the discovery of Gedney's body, and the subway-like blob monster crushing adorably oversized penguins as it jumps right at the audience in three dimensions, I don't really see why The Thing is considered so much more worthy of its rating.

(Something that always bugged me: all of the pictures are historical, or at least assumed to be so. Did the Old Ones not have fictional or mythological characters and events that deserved one or two bas-reliefs? I'm sure I'm forgetting some detail that explains that.)

Ultimately, I would love to see this movie get made. Even with Cruise    

Me too.

[Eric Lofgren]

it seems more likely that he would actualy show the Old Ones getting their interstellar asses handed to them by all sorts of other even crazier monsters (like the beginning of Hellboy II, minus the puppets), which by itself might warrant an R rating; and juxtaposed with (spoilers; highlight it) the massacre of Lake's camp, the discovery of Gedney's body, and the subway-like blob monster crushing adorably oversized penguins as it jumps right at the audience in three dimensions,

I imagine that's exactly del Toro's thinking. But I could still see this being handled in such a manner which wouldn't need to warrant an R rating and still be scary as hell. But at the same time, the exposition of the Elder Being's history found in the city has to be included (with lot's of editing of course), otherwise the true flavour of the story would be lost. 

(Something that always bugged me: all of the pictures are historical, or at least assumed to be so. Did the Old Ones not have fictional or mythological characters and events that deserved one or two bas-reliefs? I'm sure I'm forgetting some detail that explains that.)

I'd have to do a re-read myself, but I seem to recall that the history found in the bas reliefs is largely their account of their journey to Earth and the subsequent experiments which results in not only the Shoggoths, but us, as well. And then of the fracturing of the Antarctic community after the Shoggoths uprising. That's a condensed version, as more mundane things were represented, as well. There may have been some suggestions of an overt artistic or fictional nature, but not much, if any. They were scientists, after all. And by God, they were MEN

[Bob Lovecraft]

I think the entire topic of debating the "R" rating is missing the point a bit. We assume that to get an "R" rating, this movie would have to have tons of gore and oodles of graphic violence. The unsettling fact of the matter may well be that they MPAA is handing the project an "R" rating based on nothing more than a few severed limbs on the ice and a puddle of blood on the floor. This, to me, does not constitute an "R" rating, but may well be a studio tool to prevent the movie being made at all. Maybe executives don't have enough faith in the story at all and have bought the rights so they can prevent anyone else from producing it. It may well be that the MPAA is deliberately holding a rating of del Toro's head to force his hand and thus have an excuse for calling the project off. The fact is, we will probably never know why this movie is getting scrapped for real.

Personally, I think it has a lot to do with the eminent release of "The Thing" later this year. Fans seem to be responding very well to the idea of a prequel being shot of John Carpenter's classic. Perhaps it comes down to del Toros company not wanting to compete with what they see as a cinematic "sure thing". Let's be honest here, Hollywood is full of second-string movies coming out at the same time as blockbusters. Just imagine this turning into another "Cutthroat Island" (as opposed to "Pirates of the Caribbean"), or another "Deepstar Six" (as opposed to "The Abyss"), or another "Deep Impact" (as opposed to "Armageddon"). All of those films were put up against films with very similar concepts at roughly the same time, and they have all been major disappointments for the studios that released them.

Bob

[Robert R.]

The reported $150 million budget seems to me to be the biggest stumbling block. It would basically have to be the most successful horror movie of the last 30 years, possbily excepting The Sixth Sense, to even have a hope of making back that budget. R rated or otherwise. When you have to basically set a genre record just to break even, chances aren't good.

While it stinks, I can't blame the studio heads for realizing that the movie wasn't likely to make them money. With Del Toro not willing to compromise on the rating or budget, Del Toro presented them with a likely budget loser. And it's not like Del Toro's made Universal a ton in the past and they owed him something.

The best chance for the project at this stage is if Ridley Scott's Promethius is a hit. Or Del Toro's next is a huge success.

[Christian O.]

The reported $150 million budget seems to me to be the biggest stumbling block. It would basically have to be the most successful horror movie of the last 30 years, possbily excepting The Sixth Sense, to even have a hope of making back that budget. R rated or otherwise. When you have to basically set a genre record just to break even, chances aren't good.

While it stinks, I can't blame the studio heads for realizing that the movie wasn't likely to make them money. With Del Toro not willing to compromise on the rating or budget, Del Toro presented them with a likely budget loser. And it's not like Del Toro's made Universal a ton in the past and they owed him something.

The best chance for the project at this stage is if Ridley Scott's Promethius is a hit. Or Del Toro's next is a huge success.

This is all very true, however - James Cameron 3D. Unless other people get as tired as I am of 3D, that could easily make back its budget. And this is a movie that could actually work with 3D.

[MAS]

I was just reading about the potential Bioshock movie on wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioShock)
It seems they have had Gore Verbinski leave as director to become producer and then he has stated:

"Verbinski later cited that by trying to maintain the "R" rating, they were unable to find any studios that would back the effort, putting the film's future in jeopardy."

To me, this struck a chord with Del Toro's comments for ATMOM. 
Is there a trend forming where film-makers can win points with the fans as they appear to crusade to make a movie made, whilst all the while having the failsafe of knowing it can't be made because of a 'R' rating in conjunction with the budget they ask for?

Movie making political cynicism, perhaps?

[MediaGhost]

You're not far off.  A lot of times a film's rating is a bargaining chip.  A director will insist on an 'R' rating but will settle for 'PG-13' and a bigger budget, better pay, what-have-you.