At The Mountains Of Madness

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oh holy shit i think i need to change my pants after hearing about this!!!!!
MTV wrote:Del Toro To Incite Audiences To ‘Madness’ With H.P. Lovecraft Project

Soon the evil spawn will awaken to clear the earth of man. The Elder Gods will destroy us all. Pray only that Cthulhu eats you first.

Have no idea what we’re talking about? Think a Cthulhu is something you order at a Mexican restaurant? Don’t worry. If Guillermo del Toro has his way, the whole world will soon be chanting from the “Necronomicon,” the director laughed, explaining to MTV News his grand vision to bring H.P. Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness” to the big-screen.

“I remember when I was a kid out of the studios came the big event horror movies, ‘The Exorcist,’ ‘Alien,’ ‘Jaws,’ ‘The Shining,’” del Toro recalled. “It is my hope that this movie will be a tentpole movie [of that sort]. It has the scope of a Shackleton epic exploration movie but it’s full of tentacled things.”

Is it ever. Originally published in 1936, Lovecraft’s “Madness” centers on a group of explorers who stumble onto an ancient city in Antarctica. There they find living creatures dubbed “Elder Things,” living embodiments of fear and madness and pure crap your pants terror (Put THAT on a poster).

But to Del Toro, what makes the story particularly alluring is the opportunity it gives him to impose some of his own inventiveness.

“It’s not hard to be faithful to Lovecraft because what is great about the novel is that it’s a compilation of really dry scientific annotations that happen to be annotating something really scary. There is no character or dramatic thread,” he insisted. “You take those document and you then create a story. If you were [just rigidly faithful] you would be doing a National Geographic special on a crew that disappeared in an exploration mission.

“I’m happy with [my script],” he continued. “I know some people would like a happier ending but I’m happy with the ending there is.”

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That sounds all well and good, but it's not really official is it? I mean, I'd loooove to see ATMOM be made into a flick, and I think del Toro is the man to do it, but until it's been officially announced, I'll stay a healthy sceptic.

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C'mon, you were a fan of Blade II, admit it. :roll:
This is a snakeskin jacket. And for me it's a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom.

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Could be fun, seems like a decent match of director and material.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

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klimov wrote:Del Toro isn't the man to do anything. More evidence of the moronisation of 'world' cinema.
So no love for Pan's Labyrinth, Cronos, The Devil's Backbone or even Hellboy?

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Ia Ia Cthulhu ftaghn!!

Bring on the naughtiest tentacles.
Ride me a worm, you're a rider...
Walk without rhythm and you're a strider of deserts...

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PZ wrote:Ia Ia Cthulhu ftaghn!!

Bring on the naughtiest tentacles.
Image
"He put his testicles all over me!"

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"What a waste of a perfectly good white boy."
Ride me a worm, you're a rider...
Walk without rhythm and you're a strider of deserts...

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PZ wrote:"It's a damn shame when folks be throwin' away a perfectly good white boy like that."
ftfy.

can you believe matt has never seen that? i lent it to him weeks ago and he still hasn't had time to watch it. he's in for a treat.

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TC wrote:
PZ wrote:"It's a damn shame when folks be throwin' away a perfectly good white boy like that."
ftfy.

can you believe matt has never seen that? i lent it to him weeks ago and he still hasn't had time to watch it. he's in for a treat.
I need to watch it again sometime. I'm pulling my memory banks from 1988 to recall that flick.
Ride me a worm, you're a rider...
Walk without rhythm and you're a strider of deserts...

Re: At The Mountains Of Madness

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still going, and just got hugeified:
Deadline wrote:Guillermo Del Toro And James Cameron Ready To Climb 'Mountains Of Madness'

EXCLUSIVE: Since he left The Hobbit, Guillermo del Toro's next film has been a hot topic of conversation. I'm hearing he 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. The big surprise is that Avatar director James Cameron will come aboard as a producer. Del Toro was non-committal when I asked him about the prospect of Mountains days ago as we discussed the Comic-Con reaction to Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. But when del Toro announced at Comic-Con he'd cowrite and produce Haunted Mansion, he told the crowd he'd set his next film shortly, and that it would be scary. At the Mountains of Madness fits that bill, even for del Toro and Universal. The film will be a big ticket item, shot in 3D where Cameron's expertise can really help. Cameron has said he won't put his name on many future movies outside of the 3D reboot of Fantastic Voyage at Fox, but I've heard he's making an exception for del Toro. Cameron's presence helped win over the studio. I'm told the film will begin pre-production in the next few weeks, and shoot next summer.

In the Lovecraft tale, a gruesome discovery made during a scientific expedition to the South Pole in the 1930s hints at the true origin of mankind having come from elder gods from another planet. Bad things happen when those life forms are awakened.

The project is years in the works for del Toro and producers Susan Montford and Don Murphy, and it is easily the most ambitious project contemplated by the Pan's Labyrinth director. I just put the film high on the list of dream projects for the geek crowd, after it came up numerous times in discussion with geek-savvy film executives, writers and dealmakers.

Mountains was first set up at DeamWorks in 2004 by del Toro and Real Steel producers Montford and Murphy. Del Toro and Matthew Robbins wrote the script, which they are now retooling. The package was acquired by Universal when del Toro made a big overall deal there in 2007, when Universal green lit del Toro's Hellboy 2 and hoped to establish him as a cornerstone filmmaker. Those plans were put on hold when del Toro surprised the studio and accepted the offer to co-write and direct two installments of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit.

Del Toro dropped out of that project earlier this summer, after completing the writing of the two films, and the design of the first installment and half of the second. He cited the uncertainty of a production start due to the paralysis of MGM, which controls the rights along with Warner Bros. Del Toro pledged that he would return to the many plum projects his company is developing at Universal, including films like Frankenstein and the Kurt Vonnegut novel Slaughterhouse-Five. I’m confident that shortly he will be giving Universal one of the most ambitious films on its slate.

Del Toro is repped by WME and manager Gary Ungar.

Re: At The Mountains Of Madness

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james cameron interview here (http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/08/ ... z0y4bcjp9h) - avatar, blah blah blah, then this:
However, Cameron will first be acting as a producer for the 3-D adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness with Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro at the helm.

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.”

The news is beyond exciting for Lovecraft, del Toro and Cameron enthusiasts. What’s even more exciting is hearing Cameron talk about their collaborative vision.

“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.”

Cameron believes that’s what makes del Toro the perfect man for the job.

“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 how to work in 3-D.”

Re: At The Mountains Of Madness

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Great news! Although this is just plain wrong:
“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.”
The way I see it, Lovecraft was very much about telling you what the ancient ones looked like. For instance, he devotes what feels like an entire chapter in At the mountains of madness to describing what the winged creatures looked like.

Anyhoo, greatness!

Re: At The Mountains Of Madness

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a few tidbits today...
Fearnet wrote:Exclusive: James Cameron Talks H.P. Lovecraft, Guillermo Del Toro and 'At the Mountains of Madness'

This morning I had the opportunity to view some footage from the upcoming Australian survival thriller Sanctum, produced by James Cameron and due out in theaters next month in 3D (I'll post my reaction to this footage soon). Cameron of course is a fellow who knows a thing or two about the format, as well as all kinds of genre filmmaking. So today, after Cameron, along with Sanctum's director Alister Grierson, spoke with me and a group of other journalists about the film, I made sure to chat with him about his plans for another epic, one that's especially near and dear to our hearts – At the Mountains of Madness, the long-awaited adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's classic horror novella. Cameron will produce Mountains, while Guillermo Del Toro, for whom the film is a dream long in the making, handles the directing chores. After the jump, find out what Cameron had to say about the status of what should be the most faithful, fully satisfying Lovecraft film ever made.

What is it about At the Mountains of Madness that you find so fascinating? That's made you want to champion the film adaptation?

One word, one man – Guillermo. We've been friends for twenty years. We've been trying to work together, really, for that entire time. And it has never quite congealed. We're both Lovecraft fans. Me from my college days, when I discovered Lovecraft. I think I read everything he wrote in about a month. I powered through it. And if anybody can bring Lovecraft to the screen it's gonna be Del Toro.

He's got a real vision for the film. It's very, very well-developed in his mind. You know, I'm just there to facilitate his vision. I don't have any strong sense of authorship; zero sense of authorship. I'm just there to try to get it made and help him do the movie that's in his head.

So it's still going to happen, but it's just a question of when?

Oh we're very, very actively pre-producing the film right now with Universal. The design work is phenomenal, both the three-dimensional and two-dimensional design work, the physical maquettes, the CG test scenes; the artwork is phenomenal. The fans certainly won't want for a visual feast with this film. But there's [still] a bunch of number-crunching and "How you gonna do it?" and "How you gonna make it?"; "Where you gonna do it?" All that stuff.

It sounds like a dream pairing. We're looking forward to it. Thank you very much.

A pleasure.
io9 wrote:from an interview with Perlman:

Guillermo del Toro wrote a part just for you in At The Mountains of Madness, since that character isn't in the original story by H.P Lovecraft, how does he fit in with the rest of the characters?

The movie takes place in the North Pole, and so I'm on board as this sort of dog sled dude. I spend my entire life with these dogs. So I'm a rough guy, among all these scientists. I'm a contrast to the deeply intellectual world that's being explored. I live outside all the time, I live in the elements. I'm a no-bullshit kind of guy in a world of guys who just live in their heads. So it's a beautiful role to play, given that backdrop. I kick some butt I hope we get a chance to do it.

Are you guys going to start filming this year?

Curiously enough, the film hasn't been officially been announced yet. I'm doing this TV show, so I have to see what the schedule of the movie is, when it's happening, whether it's happening. And whether it can all work out schedule-wise. So I don't want to get ahead of myself here.

Re: At The Mountains Of Madness

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It will take a while since The New Yorker don't fuck around with blurb-style reporting, but take a half hour and read this. Killer profile of a horror filmmaker and creature creator, with some great insight into what del Toro was planning for The Hobbit, how that all broke down, what he's planning for a Frankenstein flick, and towards the end a ton of great stuff on At The Mountains Of Madness. The detailed descriptions of what they want to to do with the monsters is fantastic. The sad part, as hinted at in the above story, is that it's not greenlit yet. I suspect the desire to make it a fairly hard-R production is what's holding it back.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011 ... t_zalewski
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

Re: At The Mountains Of Madness

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_Marcus_ wrote:Great news! Although this is just plain wrong:
“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.”
The way I see it, Lovecraft was very much about telling you what the ancient ones looked like. For instance, he devotes what feels like an entire chapter in At the mountains of madness to describing what the winged creatures looked like.

Anyhoo, greatness!

As I just posted, read the New Yorker stuff--del Toro is in complete agreement and gets that the detail is all there. Cameron's on board to fuck around with 3D shit, he doesn't know what he's talking about.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

Re: At The Mountains Of Madness

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MTV wrote:James Cameron Says Tom Cruise Is Still Up For 'Mountains Of Madness'

Ever since the news broke last summer that Guillermo del Toro will be directing his long-delayed passion project, the big screen adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness," with fellow fanboy James Cameron producing, no less, Del Toro fans have been chomping at the bit for more news about the film.

One big burning question still left to answer revolves around casting, and even more specifically, whether rumored lead actor contender Tom Cruise has officially signed onto the project yet. Del Toro flat out deflected the question when MTV News asked him about Cruise's interest back in September, but we had a bit more luck when we bugged Cameron about it recently, during the press day for "Sanctum."

"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."

For those unfamiliar with the project, check out our very thorough and detailed breakdown of why you should be excited about it here. It has been a labor of love for del Toro and his writing partner Matthew Robbins. The lovable "Hellboy" director told us at San Diego Comic-Con that they're focused on tweaking their screenplay.

“We are rewriting slightly the screenplay we’ve had for 12 years,” del Toro said. “There [are] movies that have come out that have done things that are similar to some of the stuff we were trying," he said.

"Matthew [Robbins] and I believe that a screenplay like that you have to tackle again every so often. We tackled it last about two years ago, [when] Matt and I felt like we needed to rewrite some stuff. Matt is my greatest writing partner because we keep updating anything we haven’t shot, we keep saying, ‘Let’s do another rewrite,’ ...Thirteen years ago it was a big challenge, but right now what we’re doing is keeping it alive,” he said.