GDT News and Notes, June 27th, 2011

Guillermo del Toro on the set of "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" with Bailee Madison. (Carolyn Johns / Miramax Film Corp.)

 Lots of interesting news and notes surfaced over the weekend, following the premiere of DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK at the LA Film Festival.  Check out all that I found below:

  • The early reviews for DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK appear to be positive, with most agreeing that the film plays like a dark fairy tale similar to PAN’S LABYRINTH.  That makes sense, since Guillermo says that was the very reason he chose not to direct the film: GDT told the LA Times,  ‘”The instincts I have for the material would be the same instincts I had for ‘Pan’s.’ I tried to avoid that.” 
  • Here are a couple of reviews currently posted online from Screen Junkies (“entertaining and creative”) and Dread Central (‘expertly paced Gothic chiller’)
  • ShockTillYouDrop has a nice photo gallery of images for DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK here.
  • GDT served as guest director of the LA Film Festival, selecting the obscure Italian 1996 horror film “L’Arcano Incantatore” (“The Arcane Enchanter”). GDT told the LA Times that he stumped Quinton Tarantino with that film in a ‘name-that-movie’ contest: 

“We were like dueling banjos,” Del Toro said. “I said, ‘I bet you I can name a movie you haven’t seen.’ He went, ‘Shoot.’ This is the movie I trumped him with. I think that if Quentin hasn’t seen it, then 99% of cinema lovers have not seen it because Quentin is like a machine. This is one of my favorite unknown movies ever. This is a really beautiful, incredibly eerie, spiritual fantastic horror movie.”

  • Deadline Hollywood reported that their was some “drama” during the DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK premiere.  An hour into the film, the theater was evacuated for an “emergency in the building”…a false alarm.  GDT joked to Film District’s Bob Berney that the prank was probably the “dirty work of Bob Weinstein and the MPAA.”
  • ComingSoon.net got a chance to ask Charlie Day about the possiblity of working with Del Toro, here are some quotes passed along from ShockTillYouDrop

 

Shock: You just signed on for a tour of the Pacific Rim
Charlie Day: I’m not officially signed on so I’ve been told to dodge around answering questions, but I’ve definitely been having conversations with them about it. I’d hate to say I’d like to sign on because I don’t want them to low-ball me [laughs] but hopefully that’ll all work out.

 

Shock: What was it like meeting the master, Guillermo del Toro?
Day: I was very thrilled to find out he’d seen every single episode of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. That’s why we were meeting. Because Pan’s Labyrinth is up there as one of the greatest movies ever made.

 

Shock: He’s such a personality. He’s read every book, he’s seen every movie. If you were to sign on would you have a “Monster Approval” clause in your contract?
Day: [laughs] I will not be given monster approval, but when it comes to Guillermo you let him do all the approving.

 

Shock: Well I hope you can land it because it sounds like an awesome frickin’ project.
Day: I hope so too.