Opening on October 17th is The Book of Life.  Produced by Guillermo Del Toro and directed by Jorge Gutierrez and inspired the Mexican holiday “Day of the Dead”, the film revolves around three childhood friends—Manolo (Diego Luna), Maria (Zoe Saldana), and Joaquin (Channing Tatum)—who find themselves in a love triangle as the gods wager on who will win Maria’s heart.  Manolo is the central character of the story, as he dreams of breaking his family tradition of bullfighting to become a guitar player.  Over the course of the fantastical story, audiences are taken to The Land of the Living, the Land of the Remembered, and the Land of the Forgotten as Manolo seeks to live a complete and fulfilling life that is remembered by the living.  As you can see in the trailer, The Book of Life has a unique visual style that's unlike anything I've seen, and I can't wait to see the finished film later this year.

While at Comic-Con, I landed an exclusive video interview with Guillermo Del Toro and Jorge R. Gutierrez.  They talked about how they met, the genesis of the project, how they got the studio on board, the soundtrack, Easter eggs, how many times they re-did the storyboards and the story, being at Comic-Con, what they collect, future projects, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

And for more on The Book of Life, here's our Comic-Con panel recap and Evan's review of about 20 minutes of the film.

Guillermo Del Toro and Jorge R. Gutierrez

• 0:35 – What they were looking forward to the most at Comic-Con (other than their movie).
• 2:35 – How they got together on the project.
• 5:05 – The look of the film and getting a studio on board.
• 6:40 – If there will be toys, collectible posters, etc. based on the movie.
• 7:11 – Compiling the soundtrack.
• 10:27 – How many times they re-did the storyboards and the story.
• 12:30 – Easter eggs.
• 13:11 – Plans for the promotional campaign.
• 13:52 – Other animated projects Del Toro might produce.