While Guillermo Del Toro fans are excited about the director's upcoming monster movie "Pacific Rim," they are still mourning the demise of "At The Mountains Of Madness." A passion project for the helmer, the H.P. Lovecraft adaptation was kiboshed by Universal last spring, likely due to the high pricetag (said to be in the neighborhood of $150 million) and Del Toro's insistence on an R rating, something that would have made the financial profitability of the movie a tough sell, even with Tom Cruise attached to star. Over the summer, Del Toro revealed he was still hoping to make it saying that he's "not giving up. ‘Mountains of Madness’ has been with me for thirteen, fourteen years and I really don’t want to give up on it. Look, the movies I do, I stick with them when I think, well, if I don’t do it, nobody will….‘Mountains of Madness,’ the way I plan to do it is a very peculiar take, and I think if I don’t stick with it the version I would like to see would never get made.” Unfortunately, it looks like he's finally throwing in the towel.
Over at his official fansite Del Toro Films (via Prometheus Forum), the director has hit the message boards to reveal that Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" has effectively killed off his movie, not only due to thematic similiarities, but apparently, they both share the same climatic twist. Here's what he had to say:
Prometheus started filming a while ago- right at the time we were in preproduction on PACIFIC RIM. The title itself gave me pause- knowing that ALIEN was heavily influenced by Lovecraft and his novella.
This time, decades later with the budget and place Ridley Scott occupied, I assumed the greek metaphor alluded at the creation aspects of the HPL book. I believe I am right and if so, as a fan, I am delighted to see a new RS science fiction film, but this will probably mark a long pause -if not the demise- of ATMOM.
The sad part is- I have been pursuing ATMOM for over a decade now- and, well, after Hellboy II two projects I dearly loved were not brought to fruition for me.
The good part is: One project did… And I am loving it and grateful for the blessings I have received.
Onwards.
Del Toro also adds that not only do 'Madness' and "Prometheus" share a Lovecraft connection, he believes that even down to specific sequences, and the big reveal, the two films would be too similar. "Same premise. Scenes that would be almost identical. Both movies seem to share identical set pieces and the exact same BIG REVELATION (twist) at the end. I won't spoil it," he added. Without going too far into it, both stories concern teams of scientists/adventurers coming face to face with ancient/lost civilizations.
Perhaps once the dust settles, Del Toro may find a different way to approach 'Madness' but considering how faithfully he wanted to adapt the material, it seems "Prometheus" has taken the wind out of sails by touching upon the same core ideas. A bit of a bummer to be sure, and it seems for now, 'Mountains' will no longer be a peak Del Toro is seeking to climb.
Del Toro's great, but maybe the folks at HPLHS pictures could take a swing at it. Two films so far and they seem to be putting together good movies on a budget that could get better as they go. Remember Dead Alive? Huge fun, but who woulda thought such great blockbusters would come from such beginnings? I say there's other folks who deserve the chance to present their vision of the stories of Lovecraft, and can maybe grow them gradually into the wider public consciousness, until no one is safe
hey every one the big twist is that mankind was an accident or a joke and we were only a side effect to a larger experiment LOL
After working on The Hobbitt for 2 years and Madness for another year, there's a lot of reasons for this dude to be a bitter SOB, but he's still kinda and always seems to have the right attitude about his work. Shouts out to him.
I found out about ATMOM when Tom Cruise was a
attached to star. I thought it could be a pretty cool movie and he'd be great in it, when I read more about it.
What a disappointment!
Worst News Ever. I´m not watching Prometheus, then.
I'm guessing he's talking about life on earth being created by aliens? In Lovecraft's case it's an accident.
What would really add some salt to the wound would be if Prometheus receives a R rating…the basic thing that killed off his film.
Why would the similarity kill the project when Hollywood jumps at any chance to knock off a successful project? I mean executives clearly don't give a shit about originality and while it is true that audiences have a tendency to look down upon overly similar films released in a similar timeframe I don't think it would be an issue here given the different settings. If anything Prometheus being successful would be a good thing as it would show that a R-rated, high-concept horror film could make money. That combined with Tom Cruise's recent career rebirth would give ATMOM the best shot of being made it's ever had. Of course GDT knows better than just about anyone so I guess we have to take his word for it unfortunately.