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Guillermo del Toro Mentoring Andy Muschietti's Feature Debut 'Mama'

by Alex Billington
May 5, 2009

Even though Guillermo del Toro is prepping The Hobbit down in New Zealand, he's still finding time to mentor budding filmmakers. In 2006, Guillermo produced and developed Juan Antonio Bayona's The Orphanage, which when on to become a minor hit for Picturehouse. Del Toro has now found two more filmmakers - Andy and Barbara Muschietti (as announced via the Risky Biz Blog). He will help them develop a feature version of their short film Mama which has caused a stir at a few European film festivals. Andy will direct, and Barbara will produce, through their Madrid-based company Toma Films for Universal.

Apparently the short Mamá is only three minutes long but has won numerous awards (watch it online here). That photo above is a behind-the-scenes production photo and is all that's really out there right now. The story is about two young sisters who wake up one morning and find that their creepy ghostly mother is back and is waiting for them in a dark corner of their house. The plotline for the full feature is being kept under wraps, although it'll probably be an extension of that premise. Those familiar with the pitch say that, much like del Toro's work such as Pan's Labyrinth, Mama will contain an emotional as well as a creepy horror element.

We'll definitely be keeping our eye on this project as it develops. However, it's one of those films that I'd love to just be surprised by at a film festival sometime in the future once it's completely done. It sounds creepy and with Guillermo del Toro helping develop and produce, I expect to see a great film in the end.

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