With “The Hobbit” now a thing of the past for Guillermo Del Toro, he has an absurd number of potential projects on his plate to start movement on but it appears he has added one more.
According to Pajiba’s Hollywood Cog Del Toro is producing a new big screen “Van Helsing” tale that will be based on his own treatment. Before anyone begins to worry, no, this project is not a sequel or prequel of any kind to Stephen Sommer’s awful 2004 film of the same. Instead, it’s a brand new film that’s being described, not surprisingly, as an “action horror story.”
The project is set up at Universal where Del Toro inked a deal back in 2008 to develop and direct four monster movies that at the time of signing included “Frankenstein,” “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” “Slaughterhouse-Five” (more sci-fi than moster though) and “At the Mountains of Madness,” an an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft that’s a pet project for the director. Will “Van Helsing” push one of these out and become a directing gig for Del Toro? That remains to be seen. The project is currently seeking writers to expand Del Toro’s treatment into a screenplay.
As for “The Hobbit,” everything is still at a stand still. No director has been announced to fill in the empty chair behind camera and the film is still awaiting a greenlight from the ailing MGM, who just shelved the release of upcoming remake “Red Dawn.”