Two days ago we got the rather depressing news that Universal had bailed on Guillermo del Toro’s At the Mountains of Madness, despite James Cameron acting as producer and Tom Cruise ready to sign on. The studio was concerned about the $150 million budget and R-rating, and in a lengthy interview with Deadline del Toro spoke about his disappointment, but still hopes to make his dream project in the future.

Here are a few snippets:

They were blown away by the visual presentation, they openly admitted to loving the screenplay, saying it was dead on. And we hit the target on the budget they gave us, not a figure I arrived at. This came after months and months of story boarding, haggling with VFX companies, and bringing down the budget number. The week before the decision, I was scouting in the border of Canada and Alaska. We were a week away from opening offices in Toronto. We were crewed up, and frankly, I am as puzzled as most people are. One of the biggest, biggest points for me with this movie was the scope and the R, going hand in hand.

I think the R should be worn like a badge of merit in promoting the movie. To say, this is not a gory movie, not a movie full of profanity or violence, but it’s a really intense movie.

I have learned in the last few years that God laughs as we make plans. The beauty of it is, in the last few days, I spoke to Tom, who has been incredibly supportive and who said, ‘Let’s keep going, let’s make this movie down the road.’ He’s definitely that interested and that happy where we were creatively. So we have good legs to travel on, if the time and the opportunity present itself. But we’re going to fight for that to happen. I’ve been offered four or five times at different studios the chance to make this movie in what I think was the wrong way. With $20 million or $30 million less than what I need, with a contractual PG-13, and I don’t want to do it that way.

It’s definitely worth reading the full interview here.

Guillermo del Toro confirmed that Pacific Rim was next and the plan is to start shooting in September, although he said he couldn’t go into detail about it at this time. It was descibed earlier this week as “a PG-13 tent pole-sized project with big monsters and the creation of a new world”, so it’s something del Toro can get his teeth into after nearly 3 years without directing.

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Last month producer James Cameron said he and director Guillermo del Toro were hoping to get a deal closed with Tom Cruise to lead the movie adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s horror novella At the Mountains of Madness.

Cameron said del Toro was “madly working on a new draft of the script” and the hope was to “be shooting by June or July”, however before shooting can begin Universal has to give the project the greenlight, and with Mountains of Madness being a $150 million R-rated horror movie that won’t be an easy decision for them to make. Having a name like Tom Cruise attached helps, but today we have news which suggests Universal may be bailing on del Toro’s dream project.

From Deadline:

Del Toro and his team have delivered a stunning visual presentation that met the studio’s budget specifications, but I’m told the studio is still wary about the R rating and price. It’s just a very hard decision. The film is more horror than action adventure and i’m told it would have to generate $500 million in worldwide grosses for the studio to earn its money back.

[del Toro] was supposed to have been given an answer before the end of 2010, but the process has stretched and stretched. The studio, which is under scrutiny of new Comcast owners, wasn’t going to pull the trigger. The filmmakers are trying to salvage Mountains by placing it at another studio, and that behind the scenes drama is still playing out. Because of the Cameron relationship, one obvious discussion is Fox.

Deadline states that as the greenlight process has taken so long, and looks unlikely, “Legendary Pictures is moving fast on a project del Toro likes called Pacific Rim, a Travis Beacham-scripted PG-13 tent pole-sized project with big monsters and the creation of a new world. It could very well be the next film del Toro directs.” At this point i’m sure del Toro just wants to get behind the camera on something. He spent 2 years waiting for The Hobbit (which funnily enough begins shooting this month) and now At the Mountains of Madness may not get off the ground.

The novella follows a group of scientists and archaeologists who travel to Antartica on an expedition. There they stumble upon the ancient relics of an abandoned city hitherto completely unknown to mankind and uncover a prehistoric species that is awakened only to wreak havoc on their victims. Hopefully Cameron’s influence leads the movie to 20th Century Fox, otherwise del Toro will have to move on to Pacific Rim, which sound cool enough, but Mountains of Madness is the movie del Toro fans are waiting for.

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Back in September there was talk of Guillermo del Toro wanting Tom Cruise for the lead role in his adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s horror novella At the Mountains of Madness. When questioned on this potential casting del Toro neither confirmed nor denied anything, although he did say he has his eye on some “very unexpected” actors and thinks people “will be surprised by every piece of casting in the movie.”

Now producer James Cameron has spilled the beans during promotional rounds for Sanctum by saying he hopes to have Cruise signed up soon.

From MTV:

“Tom does want to do the picture,” Cameron said of Cruise’s continued interest. “I don’t think we have a deal with him yet, but we’re hoping to get that closed soon. Guillermo is madly working on a new draft of the script,” he added. “Hopefully we’ll be shooting by June or July.”

The lead role in question in that of William Dyer, the narrator of At the Mountains of Madness. He is a professor of geology at Miskatonic University and leader of the disastrous Pabodie Expedition to Antarctica in 1930–31 in which the team discovers alien specimens hibernating.

At the same time Cruise was mentioned James McAvoy (Wanted, X-Men: First Class) was also said to be up for a role, so we may be hearing news of his casting soon too.

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Ever since Guillermo del Toro and James Cameron teamed up with Universal earlier this year to adapt H.P. Lovecraft’s horror novella At the Mountains of Madness del Toro has always insisted that a June 2011 filming start was the aim. In a recent update the director confirmed that was still the case, and said he is currently busy re-writing the script.

From The Playlist:

“I’m rewriting and rewriting… I keep rewriting, not for budgetary reasons, but for creative reasons. For me, the beauty of the book is really it’s all about perspective. It’s about putting mankind in the right perspective in the cosmic scope. Lovecraft is very hard to adapt. He’s the master of ambiguity, and film is all about specificity.”

“If everything goes according to plan, we’ll be shooting by June next year for a 2012 release.” Although the director does say “I’ve learned from experience that until the movie is greenlit, nothing is certain. I always joke that I’ll believe it when the Blu-ray comes out!”

Despite reports Tom Cruise and James McAvoy were in line for roles in the film del Toro said in September that “there is nothing tangible” with regards to the casting, but he does have his “eye on other actors, some of them very unexpected.” One bit of casting that won’t be a surprise will be that of Ron Perlman (Hellboy) who del Toro happily revealed “plays Larson, the sort of dog guy, the guy that cares for the dogs and the sled”.

At the Mountains of Madness follows a group of scientists and archaeologists who travel to Antartica on an expedition. There they stumble upon the ancient relics of an abandoned city hitherto completely unknown to mankind and uncover a prehistoric species that is awakened only to wreak havoc on their victims.

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Having spent 2 years working on The Hobbit Guillermo del Toro is no stranger to casting speculation (mainly that for Bilbo Baggins). Now as he embarks on directing H.P. Lovecraft’s horror novella At the Mountains of Madness speculation is rampant again, with Tom Cruise and James McAvoy said to be circling roles.

In a recent interview Guillermo del Toro addressed these names directly, and while he neither confirmed nor denied anything, he did say he has his eye on some “very unexpected” actors.

When the director stopped by the MTV Newsroom last week, we asked him to address the talk, and had barely uttered Cruise’s name before del Toro jumped in. “And James McAvoy,” he said. “And next week it’s going to be somebody else. I’ve gone through this in ‘The Hobbit’ week by week, where they would say David Tennant, Tobey Maguire. I truly don’t want to go through it again with ‘Mountains.’ We haven’t cast yet.”

But when it came to Cruise and McAvoy, all del Toro would say is “there is nothing tangible” with regard to casting. And as reluctant as he is to go through intense casting speculation again, the Mexican-born director realizes it comes with the territory.

“It’s part of making movies that have a blissful, high visibility,” he conceded. “Everyone has their own interpretation of Lovecraft, especially because of the ambiguity of his descriptions. You know you’re going to disappoint some portion of the fans. You can only bet on your own instincts. For everyone that was supporting Martin Freeman [for Bilbo], there were people supporting James McAvoy or somebody else.

“I have my eye on other actors, some of them very unexpected,” he added about “Mountains.” “I think people will be surprised by every piece of casting in the movie. We will do unexpected stuff. If I was a fan, I would be speculating. In this movie, I’m a fan who unfortunately knows all the information.”

One thing del Toro is more than happy to admit is that he has a role for Hellboy actor Ron Perlman, which he did last week.

Filming is set to begin next summer, so official casting shouldn’t be too far off.

At the Mountains of Madness follows a group of scientists and archaeologists who travel to Antartica on an expedition. There they stumble upon the ancient relics of an abandoned city hitherto completely unknown to mankind and uncover a prehistoric species that is awakened only to wreak havoc on their victims.

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Whether Tom Cruise or James McAvoy have Guillermo del Toro’s At the Mountains of Madness in their futures is unknown at the moment, but one casting more certain is that of Ron Perlman, who starred in del Toro’s Hellboy movies.

Guillermo del Toro recently revealed that he has a role in mind for Perlman, and it is just a case of whether he is free when shooting begins.

From MTV:

“All I can tell you is if Ron Perlman is free, he will be in,” del Toro told us. “I wrote a part for him. He read it and if everything falls in place, Ron Perlman has a role in it written specifically for him.”

So we can now shift this bit of cinema gossip from “rumor” to “reality.” Whether Perlman is free and able to sign on is another question. Del Toro is currently deep into pre-production on the film, and there’s no firm word on when shooting will begin. But whenever it does, del Toro is hoping Perlman is on board.

“Ron plays Larson, the sort of dog guy, the guy that cares for the dogs and the sled — the part of the expedition that is dog sleds,” he explained. “It’s a fantastic character. I really love him. He’s sort of a pragmatic guy, doesn’t care about science or the mythology or the cosmology. He just is a hard-boiled Nordic man, and it is written specifically for him.”

del Toro said earlier this month that he is aiming for a June 2011 shoot, but it will all depend on how pre-production goes. Universal has still not given the greenlight yet, but it should get one by the end of the year which will allow casting to be confirmed.

At the Mountains of Madness follows a group of scientists and archaeologists who travel to Antartica on an expedition. There they stumble upon the ancient relics of an abandoned city hitherto completely unknown to mankind and uncover a prehistoric species that is awakened only to wreak havoc on their victims.

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Guillermo del Toro recently attended the Toronto Film Festival where Deadline got the chance to have an in-depth interview with the director. As well as questioning him on various projects he is producing, they also asked him about At the Mountains of Madness which he signed on to direct in July. It was his teaming up with Avatar director James Cameron that won Universal over, and they are currently in the ‘budget design’ stage.

Here’s what he had to say:

Jim and I were able to do a double tag team, talking about the world and the experience that Mountains would be. We found new ways for them to see it, and they agreed to investigate it further. We are not green lit, we are still budgeting and designing, and we are partners on this. I believe in my heart we are going to be making this movie in June of next year. We are budgeting the creatures and met with Spectral Motion and ILM, where Dennis Muren told me the sweetest words ever when he said, no one has ever seen monsters like this. That was truly one of the highlights of my fat life, a demigod like Muren saying that.

The way the creatures are rendered and done is going to bring forth an aspect of Lovecraft that has not been done on live action films. Part of my speech was, I’m putting all the chips I have accumulated in 20 years as a director, betting them on a single number. This is not just a movie and then move on to the next. It’s do or die time for me. Cameron does his movies like that every time and I find it surprising the way people judge success in retrospect, like, of course, I would have done that. Avatar was the largest gamble, again, so were Titanic and Terminator 2. I love that type of filmmaker, with those gigantic stainless steel balls.

You can read the whole interview here!

Earlier this month we heard that Tom Cruise and James McAvoy were circling the movie, but we haven’t heard anything since and del Toro didn’t address it. If June is the eventual start date we should be hearing casting confirmations over the next few months.

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With Guillermo del Toro and Universal moving forward with At The Mountains Of Madness one of their first priorities will be to get a cast together. There are 5 characters in total, all male, and with del Toro aiming for an R-rated “epically scaled horror film” some well known faces may be appearing to help bring in the crowds.

Well Collider is reporting that “Universal wants James McAvoy to play the lead in the film, but del Toro wants Tom Cruise to star. Chris Pine’s name was also being tossed around, but his busy schedule may be too packed.” Usually you would expect the studio wanting a movie star involved, however del Toro was apparently talking to Cruise about that Van Helsing movie we heard about, so he may still be inching to work with him.

The lead role in question in that of William Dyer, the narrator of At the Mountains of Madness. He is a professor of geology at Miskatonic University and leader of the disastrous Pabodie Expedition to Antarctica in 1930–31 in which the team discovers alien specimens hibernating.

There is also a meaty role for the second lead. Danforth is a graduate student at Miskatonic University and as part of the Pabodie Expedition he accompanies Dyer on a survey flight over the “Plateau of Leng” and goes mad after seeing something. He is described as “a great reader of bizarre material”. If Cruise lands the Dyer role I can see McAvoy playing Danforth, but I can’t imagine Cruise would want to play second in command so it would be all or nothing for him.

Both actors should be free as shooting isn’t expected to start for another year. Cruise will be filming the next Mission Impossible film later this year and McAvoy if just staring his first week on X-Men: First Class as Charles Xavier, so they have time to clear their plans should they sign on.

Who do you want to lead At The Mountains Of Madness? I think a Cruise/McAvoy combo would be great.

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Fans of H.P. Lovecraft’s At The Mountains Of Madness had to buy themselves new underwear last month when it was announced Guillermo del Toro would be directing an adaptation of the novella with Avatar director James Cameron producing.

While on the rounds promoting the re-release of the highest grossing movie of all time Cameron spoke about why he decided to make Madness, what his role will be, and working with del Toro.

From Wired

Cameron has told me in the past that he is not passionate about producing.

“Well, yeah, then Guillermo came along,” he says. “In this particular case, I’m working with Guillermo because I enjoy his company, and a creative collaboration is something that we’ve talked about doing for a long time.”

“It’s going to be an epically scaled horror film and we haven’t seen anything like that in a really long time — I guess since Aliens.”

Like the novella on which it’s based, the film will take place in the Antarctic, where humans encounter a race called the Ancient Ones. “The thing about Lovecraft is that he left a lot to the imagination,” Cameron says. “He never told you what they looked like. He managed to create a sense of creeping horror without specifics.”

“Guillermo brings an eye for design that is so original and so quirky and so steeped in the lore of movie design and horror design, but always fresh and unexpected. Frankly, I just want to see what he comes up with and I want to enable the nuts and bolts of the production so he doesn’t have to worry about that. I want to help him work in 3-D.”

Guillermo del Toro has been wanting to make At The Mountains Of Madness for years and he was in talks with Warner Bros. to adapt it in 2006, but according to Toro they were “very nervous about the cost and it not having a love story or a happy ending”. However the combination of del Toro and Cameron spurred Universal to hand over the money and the last we heard the studio and del Toro are intending to begin pre-production soon ready for a summer 2011 shoot.

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Former director of The Hobbit Guillermo del Toro said we would find out what his next project will be either at or just after Comic-Con, and now we know what that project is.

According to Deadline del Toro will next direct At The Mountains Of Madness, an adaptation of the HP Lovecraft tale that will be shot as a 3D film for Universal Pictures. Avatar director James Cameron will also come aboard as a producer.

del Toro has been wanting to make At The Mountains Of Madness for years and he was in talks with Warner Bros. to adapt it in 2006, but according to Toro they were “very nervous about the cost and it not having a love story or a happy ending”. However with the director being hot property after coming off The Hobbit and James Cameron putting his name on the project Universal are moving forward with the film, which will begin pre-production in the next few weeks for a summer 2011 shoot.

For those not familiar with At The Mountains Of Madness (such as myself) here is a summary of the novella written by horror writer H.P. Lovecraft in 1931:

Miskatonic University of Arkham, Massachussetts, sends a scientific expedition to explore the snowy wastes of Antarctica. Once there the team uses experimental drilling equipment to search for fossils from the days when Antarctica was a steaming, prehistoric jungle. In an icy cavern members of the expedition discover perfectly preserved specimens of a winged, column-like creature and bring them back to camp for study.

Informed of the momentous find by radio, the unnamed expedition leader and a companion race to the scene. When they arrive they discover the camp destroyed, the men and sled dogs alike slaughtered and dissected. The mysterious specimens are missing along with some scientific equipment and one team member. Suspecting mutiny or perhaps insanity the team leader sets off into the mountains, following the tracks of a hastily constructed sledge and footprints that are decidedly inhuman. Almost willfully blind to the truth until too late, the scientists realize the alien specimens were only hibernating and now seek to return to the ancient prehuman city that is their home. What follows is a story told in hieroglyhs, recording the rise and fall of an alien empire that genetically engineered man as a buffoonish, ape-like jester to amuse their inhuman intellects. The explorers must try to escape not only the city, but also the mindless, protoplasmic slaves who built it for their slumbering creators.

I believe I shall be there opening night, whenever that will be. I guess Guillermo del Toro leaving The Hobbit isn’t all bad, as he can work on amazing movies like this.

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