Ever since he left The Hobbit behind, Guillermo Del Toro has been busy setting up projects all over Hollywood. While he next plans to direct At The Mountains of Madness, that isn’t going to stop him putting his fingers in numerous other pies.
One thing he planning to produce, according to Pajiba, is Midnight Delivery, based on a Neil Cross script. Universal is helping Del Toro develop the movie, which is a bit of a step away from the horror/fantastical stories he’s known for, and will follow a man forced to become a drug mule in order to save his son’s life.
However that’s not all De Toro is lining up, as THR reports that he’s going to write and direct Trollhunters, a CGI movie for Dreamworks Animation. The movie will be based on Del Toro’s own young adult book, which he’s been working on for years and has recently finished.
Del Toro says of his creation, “I wanted very much to develop a story that could be written for kids but dealt with a genre that was scary. It essentially combines fairy tales with modern times and is about how difficult it is to be kid. Normally, kids are idealized in animated films. But the growing pains, married with the notion that there is a world right next to us that is completely plagued by creatures of ancient lore, it’s thematically fitting with the rest of my stuff.” However as yet there’s not too much more info on the plot.
He’s also decided that he likes Dreamwors Animation so much, that he’s sign up to work as a consultant and exec producer on several of their other projects, including Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss In Boots and another, yet-to-be-revealed, movie.
Goodness knows how he’ll have the time for all this, as it seems almost unfeasible. Del Toro responds, “People say, ‘How does he do it?’ Well, I don’t work on them at the same time,” del Toro said. ” ‘Midnight Delivery,’ I wrote 11 years ago. The fact that they are happening now is flattering and great, but it doesn’t mean I’m writing seven screenplays at one time.” Even so, the amount he’s got on his plate right now is ridiculous.
Finally, while we’re on Del Toro, MTV recently spoke to him, and he confirmed that Ron Perlman will have a role in At The Mountains of Madness. 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. 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.”