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Del Toro Says 'Prometheus' May Have Killed 'Mountains of Madness'
by Ethan Anderton
May 7, 2012
Source: Shock Til You Drop
It's been a rough few years for Guillermo del Toro as a filmmaker. Not only was he unable to follow through as director of The Hobbit (though his work will surely still be seen in some form of Peter Jackson's take on the adaptation), but Universal killed his passion project of an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, a film he's been trying to get made for about a decade. Thankfully, Pacific Rim is on the way with plenty of monster mayhem and action. And while there were hopes his Lovecraft adaptation would find life again later, del Toro seems to think another sci-fi film has beat him to the punch. Read on!
Surely we're all excited to see Ridley Scott's return to sci-fi this summer with Prometheus, but it sounds like the promising film may have effectively killed del Toro's adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness. Over at the Del Toro Films message boards (via Shock Til You Drop), the director wanted to drop his two cents on the defunct project, and talked about how Prometheus just might mean we may never see del Toro's take on At the Mountains of the Madness on the big screen:
"I have been interviewed about this lately and wanted to post my two cents about this:
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 [Ridley Scott] science fiction film, but this will probably mark a long pause - if not the demise - of ['At the Mountains of Madness'].
The sad part is - I have been pursuing ['At the Mountains of Madness'] 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."
Though he wouldn't mention specifics, when pressed for a few more details, del Toro said that compared to what he's seen from Prometheus (which is likely more than what we've seen) that his film has the "Same premise. Scenes that would be almost identical." But perhaps bigger than that is, "Both movies seem to share identical set pieces and the exact same big revelation (twist) at the end. I won't spoil it." So there you have it. In a way, it sounds like del Toro's vision for the adaptation has made it to the big screen in some form, but the director sounds like he's more than a little disappointed that he can't bring his vision for At the Mountains of Madness to the big screen anytime soon. Either way, we're still excited for Pacific Rim and anything else del Toro wants to throw our way. Thoughts?
29 Comments
1
:'(
Zeus on May 7, 2012
2
So wait...did he just say that Prometheus is basically a rip off of HPL story? ..elder gods ...space jockey...hmm..I can see how that might be true..sort of... ...but still...damn Hollywood...they could have given us both movies...
Huh? on May 7, 2012
3
Not a rip-off, but since Alien was inspired by Lovecraft, he's saying that he can see the threads of the book in Prometheus. I think it's the main concept and some of the visuals that del Toro is talking about as a comparison.
Ethan Anderton on May 7, 2012
4
more than that, Mountains and Prometheus have similar stories albeit hidden mountain in Himalayas instead of another planet, no blind six feet tall penguins to encounter, and no reference to Cthulhu....unless you count Space Jockey....
Jericho on May 7, 2012
5
i said Himalayas when i meant Antarctica
Jericho on May 7, 2012
6
understandable mistake, they do constantly compare the Mountains to the Himalayas throughout the story
Armeetapus16 on May 8, 2012
7
Could it be that he is just so engrossed in his love of At the Mountains of Madness and his project that he sees it everywhere? Like Jim Carey in The Number 23 ?I totaly get it.It's a great story.
Talkin' outta my ass on May 7, 2012
8
Tough beans.
Big Boss Bob on May 7, 2012
9
in general audiences have short memories, if Prometheus does well, then Mountains a few years...
Thanos on May 7, 2012
10
Bad news: del Toro won't make AtMoM anytime soon 🙁 Good news: Proof (if we still need more) that Prometheus will re-define the word epic. 🙂
Isildur_of_Numenor on May 7, 2012
11
im going ro re-read Mountains and changes the species from Great Ones to Space jockeys...this is gonna be goooooooooooooooood
Jericho on May 7, 2012
12
it's ridley scott - i didn't need any more proof than that - he almost always delivers.....which is more than i can say for del toro.
beevis on May 7, 2012
13
I didn't need any more proof either, I was in the moment it was announced. It's just great that someone like del Toro kind of assures us that Prometheus will be monumental. It's a shame At the Mountains is not going to be made because of this, but I'm glad that Pacific Rim made it.
Isildur_of_Numenor on May 8, 2012
14
hope i didn't offend you - my comment was meant only to show that i really believe in RS.
beevis on May 8, 2012
15
Nah, don't worry, I didn't get that feeling. Sir Ridley Scott can't be praised enough for what he has accomplished. And I'm confident that Prometheus will exceed our expectations.
Isildur_of_Numenor on May 8, 2012
16
Give it a couple of years. When Prometheus suceeds, that will open the doors to more like it.
mooreworthy on May 7, 2012
17
Utter rubbish. If anything Prometheus would have helped mountains of madness get made. 2 snow whites etc etc. the films were being funded by 2 studios so they were not competing for the same money. So the argument is flat. I think the real problem is in the details. Flying cucumber looking creatures? Really!
Ted Guest1133980lost on May 7, 2012
18
Agreed, what has Del Toro done lately other than drop out of and cancel projects. With all the duplicate films being made, I can not beleive that he can't make this because of Prometheus, really.
cg003 on May 8, 2012
19
Lol, aww! He looks so sad and disappointed in that picture with his frowny face. Poor guy. /pat
SuicidalOptimist on May 7, 2012
20
sour grapes. he isnt that great anyway.
happy camper on May 7, 2012
21
"Dear silver screen gods;please,pleaeese let this movie be made....and also Dune ...and let them not suck.Thanks."
lame g33k on May 7, 2012
22
Spending $100-150,000,000 on a sci-fi horror is always a bit risky, is it not? AtMoM would have been great, but there's so many other Lovecraft stories, start with something less grand?
David Banner on May 7, 2012
23
he should get his arse in gear and make films again instead of announcing he's doing everything and anything and not really doing nothing at all ;(
fassbenders willy on May 8, 2012
24
Someone go get a violin 🙁
Horseflesh on May 8, 2012
25
Someone should tell Del Torro to Kickstarter At the mountains of Madness, let the fans fund it, not stingy unimaginative companies who play favorites
Armeetapus16 on May 8, 2012
26
All of you guys that are saying what has Del Toro done lately, need to just sit back and chill because I have a close friend that's doing work on Pacific Rim and from what I've been told, it's beyond epic! We've never seen gigantic 200 feet tall scary monsters tearing down cities, along with giant mech robots! Fear not, this movie will deliver next summer! We may even see a sneak peak teaser in front of TDKR in july!
jah p on May 8, 2012
27
You never saw Godzilla? Or Cloverfield?
Tyrantula05 on Jun 4, 2012
29
Have seen Prom. now. It was unimpressive, and probably won't help Mountains being made any time soon.
Knut on Jun 3, 2012
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