Guillermo del Toro

First Official Synopsis for Guillermo del Toro’s PACIFIC RIM

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 23rd, 2012 at 1:10 pm

Director Guillermo del Toro finally has a new directorial feature film set for release next year.  He spent quite a while preparing to direct The Hobbit before leaving when he thought the film would be held up in MGM’s legal troubles for years, then he started prepping At the Mountains of Madness with Tom Cruise only to have Universal pass on the project in favor of things like Battleship.  All’s well that end’s well, as del Toro recently wrapped his first directorial effort since Hellboy II: The Golden Army, a monster movie called Pacific Rim.

Little details have been known about the plot for Pacific Rim other than the fact that del Toro promises “the finest fucking monsters ever committed to screen” and the film involves battles between human-manned robots and monsters.  A rumored plot synopsis surfaced back in March of 2011, and now Warner Bros. has released an official synopsis for the film that seems to confirm much of that earlier premise.  Hit the jump for the full synopsis.

Daniel Radcliffe, Christopher Walken, and Tom Waits Eyed for Guillermo del Toro’s PINOCCHIO; 2014 Release Possible

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 18th, 2012 at 11:06 am

It seems like director Guillermo del Toro adds another project to his “to-do” list every month, but welcome news came last week when it was announced that del Toro is planning to co-direct his first stop-motion animated feature.  The filmmaker is spearheading an adaptation of Pinocchio alongside co-director Mark Gustafson, based off of author Gris Grimly’s dark interpretation of the story that takes place in Italy between World War I and World War II.  Though the year-long filming process on the 3D feature doesn’t begin until next summer, del Toro recently revealed a few names that may or may not end up as part of the voice cast.  Hit the jump for more.

HULK May Be on ABC Next Year; THE PUNISHER TV Series Not Moving Forward at Fox

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 15th, 2012 at 12:50 pm

It’s upfronts week, and we’ve already gotten a look at the upcoming fall schedules for NBC, Fox, and ABC.  However, we’ve now got word on a couple of comic book series that weren’t on any of said schedules.  A Hulk television series has been in development at ABC for a while with Guillermo del Toro onboard as executive producer.  ABC president Paul Lee had this to say regarding Hulk:

“Hulk is in development.  It wasn’t going to be ready this season, but we hope it’s going to be ready for next season.”

With word that Marvel might be planning a new Hulk movie with Mark Ruffalo following the stellar reaction to the character/Ruffalo’s performance in The Avengers, many wondered what this meant for the TV series.  It sounds like ABC is very much still game for the show, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a Hulk movie is held until the studio sees how the TV series fares.  Hit the jump for more, including word on The Punisher TV series.

Guillermo Del Toro to Co-Direct 3D Stop-Motion Animated PINOCCHIO

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 10th, 2012 at 8:48 am

In February 2011, we reported that Guillermo Del Toro was developing a 3D stop-motion animated adaptation of Pinocchio with author Gris Grimly and Mark Gustafson co-directing based off Grimly’s 2002 book.  Today, Variety reports that Del Toro has now stepped in to co-direct with Gustafson (there’s no mention of Grimly).  Del Toro is currently in post-production on the blockbuster monster movie Pacific Rim, which is due out July 12, 2013.  He and Gustafson (animation director for Fantastic Mr. Fox) plan to start a year-long shoot for Pinocchio in summer 2013.  Del Toro wrote the script with Grimly and Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark co-writer Matthew Robbins.

Hit the jump for more.

Guillermo Del Toro Says PROMETHEUS Has Probably Nixed AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 7th, 2012 at 8:29 am

It looks like the final nail has been hammered into Guillermo Del Toro‘s adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft‘s novella At the Mountains of Madness.  Del Toro’s passion project came a hair away from getting the greenlight, but Universal pulled the plug over an unwillingness to pay a blockbuster price tag for an R-rated movie.  Del Toro moved on to direct the monster movie Pacific Rim (due out July 12, 2013), but there was always the hope that maybe ATMOM might live again.  But now the brilliant director has said Ridley Scott‘s Prometheus has taken the wind out of the project.

Hit the jump more.

Guillermo del Toro and Angryfilms to Option Spec Script THE BLOODY BENDERS

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: April 27th, 2012 at 4:44 pm

Add another one to the massive  list of Guillermo del Toro’s ongoing projects (he just wrapped on Pacific Rim and will spend the next year in post, but is also attached to direct Beauty and the Beast with Emma Watson, is producing the animated Day of the Dead and his production effort, Rise of the Guardians debuts November 21st).  This time around, del Toro is optioning a spec script by Adam Robitel, a protege of Bryan Singer’s (X-Men).  The Bloody Benders is a genre-mashup that is equal parts Western, horror, thriller and love story.  It centers on the true accounts of the Benders, a family who ran a hotel on the outskirts of the Kansas prairie in 1873.  As the title suggests, the Benders were not the most accommodating of hosts; up to 20 people that checked in were robbed and murdered without the Benders ever being prosecuted.  Sounds like a picture that’s thematically right up del Toro’s alley.  Hit the jump for more on The Bloody Benders.

Fantastic First Trailer for DreamWorks Animation’s RISE OF THE GUARDIANS

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: March 28th, 2012 at 9:57 am

The first trailer for DreamWorks Animation’s Rise of the Guardians has gone online, and I’m kind of in love with it. Executive produced by Guillermo del Toro, the adventure story centers on a group of heroes who must join forces to protect “the hopes, beliefs and imagination of the children all over the world.” The twist is that the heroes are Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, etc. This trailer is kind of incredible, as it has the same sweeping tone and sense of wonderment that was prevalent in How to Train Your Dragon. The animation is gorgeous and DreamWorks thankfully eschews hokey jokes and gags in favor of awe and tone. The story comes from author William Joyce, who also created the very touching Oscar-winning short The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, and if the final film is anything like this trailer I’ll be over the moon.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. Directed by Joyce and Peter Ramsey, the film features the voices of Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher and Jude Law. Rise of the Guardians opens on November 21st.

Guillermo Del Toro to Produce Jorge R. Gutierrez’ Animated Adventure Movie DAY OF THE DEAD

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 21st, 2012 at 10:39 am

Guillermo Del Toro is set to team with Reel FX to produce Jorge R. Gutierrez‘s animated feature Day of the Dead.  The CG-animated picture is a “Romeo and Juliet”-style love story that’s set against the Mexican “Day of the Dead”.  The film is Del Toro’s latest animated project.  In 2010, we reported that the Pan’s Labyrinth director was teaming up with DreamWorks Animation, and in particular had set up the movie Trollhunters to write and direct.  Nothing is happening with that movie at the moment (Del Toro is currently at work on the monster movie Pacific Rim), but he has served as an executive producer on Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots, and the upcoming Rise of the Guardians and Pinocchio.

Hit the jump for the full press release.  Day of the Dead, which is Del Toro’s first project set in Mexico since Cronos, is due out in fall 2014.

Andrew Davies Set to Write BEAUTY AND THE BEAST for Guillermo del Toro to Direct; Emma Watson Will Star

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 13th, 2012 at 3:53 pm

One of the many, many projects currently on director Guillermo del Toro’s plate is an adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. We first learned of the update last summer, and del Toro said at the time that he’d love for Harry Potter actress Emma Watson to star. Now it appears that the pic has firmed up quite a bit, as Variety reports that Bridget Jones’s Diary scribe Andrew Davies has been tapped to write the script and Watson is in final negotiations to star in the Warner Bros. pic. The plan is for del Toro to write a treatment, which Davies will then work off of for the script. When the project was initially conceived, del Toro stated his intention to keep the period setting of the original story. No word on whether or not that has changed.

Del Toro is currently busy filming Pacific Rim, so it will likely be a while before he can devote himself to Beauty and the Beast full time. Hopefully Davies can get to work on the script while del Toro finishes up post-production on Pacific Rim. In addition to Bridget Jones, Davies also wrote The Three Musketeers, Brideshead Revisited, and the miniseries Little Dorrit. Having wrapped the Harry Potter franchise, Watson is next set to reteam with Potter director David Yates on Your Voice in My Head.

Guillermo Del Toro Talks PACIFIC RIM, His Video Game INSANE, and Provides Updates on Other Projects

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 16th, 2011 at 10:03 am

Guillermo Del Toro is currently making the press rounds to promote his new book The Night Eternal, which is the final installment in his and Chuck Hogan‘s The Strain trilogy of vampire novels.  In a recent interview with Wired, Del Toro provided updates on his upcoming movie Pacific Rim, his horror video game inSane, his Hulk TV series, and The Haunted Mansion.  Hit the jump for more on all of these projects.

GAME OF THRONES Director Brian Kirk to Helm Guillermo del Toro-produced MIDNIGHT DELIVERY

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: November 2nd, 2011 at 4:11 pm

When last we reported on Midnight Delivery, it was to tell you that the Guillermo del Toro production for Universal would be written by Neil Cross (UK’s MI-5). Now it seems that the project has found a director in Brian Kirk, from HBO’s Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire. The script, based off an idea by del Toro, concerns a man who turns himself into a drug mule in order to save his son’s life.

Kirk recently turned down the opportunity to direct Marvel’s Thor 2, citing “creative and financial sticking points.” Gary Ungar will executive produce for Midnight Delivery with Universal’s VP of Production Scott Bernstein and Director of Development Anikah McLaren overseeing the project. As Variety reports, production plans to start next year as soon as Cross has turned in his latest draft.

Director Chris Miller Talks PUSS IN BOOTS and Collaborating With Guillermo del Toro

by Christina Radish    Posted: October 27th, 2011 at 4:26 pm

An animator, story artist, performer and filmmaker, Chris Miller has been an integral part of the hugely successful Shrek animated film series, since its inception. And, as someone who could tell that the charming and unforgettable Puss in Boots was a cat destined for great things, it’s no surprise that he was the right man to helm the adventure story.

At the press day for Puss in Boots, we spoke to director Chris Miller during a press conference and a 1-on-1 interview about when he realized that the devilish cat with the tremendous heart deserved a movie of his own, wanting to make his a tale of redemption, the changes made during the film’s development, the influence that executive producer Guillermo del Toro had on the film, how much extra material was generated that could end up on the DVD/Blu-ray, and that he hasn’t thought about making the transition to live-action that so many other animation directors are currently doing. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Warner Bros. Moves Guillermo del Toro’s PACIFIC RIM Release Date to May 10, 2013

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: October 13th, 2011 at 4:17 pm

Warner Bros. is doing a little release date shifting, as they’ve moved the release date of Guillermo del Toro’s next directorial effort Pacific Rim up two months to May 10th, 2013 (per Deadline). The sci-fi pic had previously been dated for July, but it looks like it’ll open during a very crowded May. Iron Man 3 is slated to open a week earlier, on May 3rd, with Roland Emmerich’s own sci-fi flick Singularity set to open a week later on May 17th. Justin Lin’s Fast and Furious 6 and Gore Verbinski’s no longer on hold (after some budget and story shifts) The Lone Ranger also open later that month. In other words, our eyeballs may suffer some intense fatigue by the end of the first month of the Summer movie season.

Set in the future, Pacific Rim centers on an epic battle between humans (aided by human-manned robots) and attacking monsters. Production on the film is set to get underway next month. The cast includes Charlie Hunnam, Willem Dafoe, Idris Elba, Charlie Day, Rob Kazinsky, Max Martini, Diego Klattenhoff, and Clifton Collins Jr.

TOP 5: UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING Set Visit, D23 Coverage, DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, OUR IDIOT BROTHER, THE PHANTOM MENACE CGI

by Jason Barr    Posted: August 27th, 2011 at 7:44 am

If you’re just tuning in, a few months back we started the weekly “Top 5″ feature as a way of aggregating all of what we deem to be our best, most relevant coverage from the preceding week into one place. The hope is that you, the reader, will have already scoped all of this material out and shared it with your millions of friends (either real, virtual, or both). However, if for whatever reason some of it has fallen through the cracks, you can come here, check it out, and then share it with all of your friends (again, either real, virtual, or both). That in mind…

In this week’s installment, you’ll find all of our coverage from Steve’s Underworld: Awakening set visit and Disney’s D23 Expo, interviews for the Guillermo del Toro produced horror flick Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark and the Paul Rudd comedy Our Idiot Brother, and a slightly improved, slightly less puppet-friendly version of Yoda in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Check out brief recaps and links to all of the above after the jump.

DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: August 26th, 2011 at 5:59 am

I’m an easy scare.  I tend not to seek out horror movies because the idea of being hit by jump scares doesn’t appeal to me.  Troy Nixey’s Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark goes after gothic, psychological horror with a haunted house/monster movie vibe and that’s usually the way the genre works for me.  But despite the exquisite art direction and cinematography, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is a horror movie that rarely conjures of any sense of dread or terror.

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