Caffeinated Clint
It was announced a couple of days ago that Universal had canned Guillermo Del Toro’s proposed film adaptation of Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness”. As a result, another film Del Toro had been circling, Legendary’s “Pacific Rim”, moved into pole position.
It’s crushing news, not only for Del Toro and James Cameron, who was set to produce “Madness”, but for the industry. What the cancellation of a film like this, one packed with stars and super-talented filmmakers, means is that the world of filmmaking – particularly in the studio system – has changed considerably. If “Madness” had been a sequel or a video-game, it’s likely it would have been greenlit straight away. That folks, is the sad truth.
In a new interview with Deadline, Del Toro responded to claims that, in addition to it not being based on a vintage comic, Universal canned “At the Mountains of Madness” because they weren’t sure it’d make anywhere near the $500 million it’d have to to be out of the red. In addition, star Tom Cruise was said to be far from a lock.
”Definitely, closing Tom’s deal was in their hands”, says Del Toro. “He was without a doubt, absolutely in favor of being in the movie. We met extensively, both in Canada and the U.S., dozens of times. Final polishes of the screenplay met with his approval. Closing the deal is not something that was in my hands. They needed to close it corporately. As far as the movie grossing that much, obviously I’m not impartial, but I have to believe that with 3D, Tom Cruise, Jim Cameron, the scope of Lovecraft’s novel that is one his best regarded and most widely known works, I would venture that it could absolutely have been done. 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. It’s all what you do with what you’re given. I had to believe right along that they were betting as much as I was. I was betting essentially everything I had, in terms of leverage, betting nine months of development when I was on The Hobbit. This was for me a do or die movie.”
Del Toro also explained why another studio didn’t – or rather couldn’t – jump in and save “At the Mountains of Madness”.
”That is not a quick process. We would have needed first to get the formal terms of turnaround from Universal before we could formally get an answer from another studio. We were gauging interest and there was interest, very serious interest, but nothing that could happen before Universal names the terms in which they would allow us to try and set it up somewhere else. That is my hope right now that they just allow us to seek a home for this. It will remain a timely premise for years to come, so I don’t have to do it next month. I know it’s not an easy proposition. It is, if you have faith. I think a studio needs to fully believe in that. Certainly, in the last year, you can find movies of that scope or bigger that have been green lit on a wing and a prayer. We are part of show business, and it seems the business side takes more and more command of things, and the show part of the business seems to be dwindling. It’s a sign of the times, in a way.”
The filmmaker also said why he opted to do “Pacific Rim” instead.
”I can only say I was very happy to be able to develop it under the radar in many ways. People got it confused with the Godzilla movie a few months ago but we cleared that up. I can say the scope and imagination that have been outlined in it are absolutely appealing to me. I cannot say more, it’s not the time.
”The idea is unequivocally to start shooting in September. The terms of that will become public very soon, but the idea is to get behind the camera this year. I miss it terribly. Unfortunately for me, I have passed discreetly on a number of high profile projects last year in order to save myself for a project that I’ve been shepherding. That was Mountains, and now it seems like it’s going to be Pacific Rim. In both instances, these are projects I am generating”
Del Toro says he’d like to do “At the Mountains of Madness” still, and plans to, just not for a studio that insists it be a PG-13 movie.
Drew at HitFix nails it on the head though when he says, “Rather than pointing the finger at one company or one decision, I’d like to say that the system at large is flawed right now, and it’s a sucker’s game. It is as bad right now as it’s ever been, or at least in the 20 years I’ve been in Los Angeles. So many filmmakers I know are discouraged. So many film lovers I know are feeling like they don’t see anything they like. For this to be fixed, it’s going to take a lot more than one mega-budget horror film either getting made or not getting made. It’s going to take a major paradigm shift in what gets sold, how it gets sold, and what audiences reward with their viewing dollars. And you can’t lay that off on Universal or Guillermo or the pandering to fanboys. It’s systemic.”
