Guillermo Del Toro has projects littered all over the place, and so it gets tough to keep up with what exactly is next on his schedule after Pacific Rim wraps up. The plus side of that is we don't have to wait seven years between movies like we did after Pan's Labyrinth. Actually, we may not be waiting long at all, as Deadline has learned Del Toro's next film will be a ghost story titled Crimson Peak.
We first heard about Crimson Peak at the same time talk of a Justice League Dark film had emerged, but it's apparently been in the works for quite some time. Legendary Pictures has picked it up now, with Del Toro sounding off on its development history....
Del Toro: "It was the first one I wrote after 'Pan’s Labyrinth,' and I sold it to Donna Langley at Universal. She loved it, I was going to direct it, and then 'Hellboy II' happened, and then I was off to New Zealand for 'The Hobbit.' Donna suggested I move aside and produce it. It went out to directors, but I didn’t quite like anyone for it. Finally I went through the experience of 'Pacific Rim' with Warner Bros and Legendary, and it was the best experience I have ever had making a a movie, period. I had a really good working relationship with Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni, and they asked what I wanted to do next. I sent them At The Mountains of Madness, I sent them [The Count Of] Monte Cristo, another project I’ve tried to do for 20 years. I also sent Crimson Peak, but didn’t expect a reaction because it’s not a typical Legendary movie. Much to my surprise, Thomas Tull called 9:30 at night on the day I sent it and said, ‘I don’t know how it ends, but I am on page 45 and I love it.’ Next day, Jon Jashni called and said we think it’s the best project for us, just the right size.”
We don't know much about the plot, but Del Toro hopes to capture the same feel of some of the great haunted house movies such as Robert Wise's The Haunting Jack Clayton's The Innocents and Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Yeah, that sounds pretty darn awesome to me, and it'll be great to see Del Toro venturing back into the world of horror once again. It's been way too long. Del Toro added that if things go well with Pacific Rim, we may see Legendary Pictures pick up At the Mountains of Madness, which Universal passed on last year.
He'll likely finish up the co-directing job on Pinocchio, then complete the pilot for the FX series The Strain, and then go full hog on Crimson Peak in early 2014.
