Even though Pacific Rim will be Guillermo del Toro's first film in five years, he has attached himself to numerous projects both for movies and television.  Just to name a few that are still in development hell, he's attached to The Haunted Mansion, The Incredible Hulk TV series, and Pinocchio.  And even though Pacific Rim has yet to hit theaters, del Toro and co-writer Travis Beacham are already set to write the sequel for Legendary Pictures.  Del Toro is also in pre-production on adapting his vampire novel trilogy The Strain for television, and is looking ahead to the haunted house feature, Crimson Peak starring Emma Stone and Charlie Hunnam.

Speaking with Steve and WonderCon, del Toro talked about the status of Pacific Rim 2, The Strain, Crimson Peak, how financing tends to determine his next project, writing the script to his indie feature Saturn and the End of Days, what happened to his animated adaptation of Pinocchio, and more.  Also, be sure to check out what del Toro had to say about Justice League Dark.

Pacific Rim won't hit theaters until July, but the hype reached fever pitch when an exclusive trailer played at WonderCon this past weekend.  Furthermore, Legendary's clearly happy with what they've seen thus far since they've commissioned a script for a sequel.  Here's what del Toro had to say about the status of Pacific Rim 2:

We pitched a pretty good outline to Legendary several weeks ago, and they loved it, so Travis and I, as soon as we land this monster (no pun intended) into the screen, we will start actively working on the script.  The outline was basically approved.

However, if Pacific Rim is a hit, Legendary Pictures will definitely want to set Pacific Rim 2 on the fast track, which could affect del Toro's other projects.  Del Toro commented on what's on his schedule after Pacific Rim hits theaters:

I know we're prepping the pilot of The Strain.  We're shooting all of September.  We showed Fox the art, we turned in the pilot, we're casting, we're building an effects/makeup company in Canada to basically articulate, sculptors coming from everywhere because I want use practical stuff.  We're taking all the steps and we're shooting very soon.  The idea is to shoot in the fall, winter, spring—shoot the whole first season.  I'll then be prepping Crimson Peak, which we've already finished casting this week.  And we're announcing it very shortly who's in the cast.  So that's the immediate future.

These may look like decisions, but del Toro says that these matters are out of his control because financing is largely what determines his schedule.  It's one of the reasons why directors like del Toro and Ridley Scott become attached to so many movies.  They want to always be working, and the more projects they're attached to, the more likely it will be that one will be ready to go when the current project is finished.  Del Toro commented on his "decision"-making process:

People think you choose.  I don't choose.  On the things that are around, when the financing happens or in the case of my independent stuff like Pan's Labyrinth or The Devil's Backbone, when I finish the goddamn script.  I have a script that I've been trying to finish for four years, probably, called Saturn and the End of Days, and I cannot get past page 45.  So if that comes out, I don't care if there's a big movie.  I'll do the small movie first as soon as it's ready.  But in the meantime, whatever happens with the projects and allows them to be financed, I'm super-happy.

Del Toro then provided an example of when financing cut a project from his schedule rather than lining it up:

With Pinocchio, we thought we had it financed and the financing fell through.  We don't have the financing for it, if it happens that's great, and as I say always, they don't happen the way you think.  Your career is what happens when you're making other plans.

Finally, he also commented on how Toronto will become his home away from home when he moves to The Strain and Crimson Peak:

We're shooting The Strain in Toronto, Crimson Peak in Toronto, and I love Toronto so much.  We're basically moving there for a couple of years at least.  It also has the best cinematheque in the world, the Lightbox.  TIFF is amazing, and I'm doing a Hitchcock series every December there.  We're going to do it every December for films by Hitchcock, talking to the audience about them, and doing a little class if you would.  It's a great community.

Here's the part of the interview on his future projects.  Look for more with del Toro tomorrow.