GDT’s Notebook, Interviews and Other Stuff

How time flies when you are a busy man.  Because of other commitments, I have not been giving my fellow DTF’ers the attention they deserve.  That’s why I’m coming at you with a butt-load of updates.  Here we go!

The GDT New Yorker Interview

In perhaps one of the best interviews with Guillermo Del Toro to date, Daniel Zalewski has written an amazing profile of Guillermo for the New Yorker.  Not only including some great insights to his life in Mexico, it offers a rare glimpse into Bleak House and some of Guillermo’s secret creature designs.  Not to be missed is an extensive look at the preproduction work for ATMOM!

Below are some creature designs mentioned in the article:

Smaug

An overhead view likens him to a “flying axe”.  Smaug’s bodyis unusually long and thin. “The bones of its wings were articulated on the dorsal side, giving the creature a slithery softness across its belly,” writes Zalewski. GDT describes Smaug as snake-like.  Smaug’s front legs looked disproportionately small, like those of a T. rex. Smaug’s eyes, del Toro says, were “going to be sculpturally very hidden.”

Frankenstein

“In accordance with Mary Shelley’s description, the head appeared to have been stolen from a cadaver: there was exposed sinew around the jaw, and the cheekbones looked ready to poke through the scrim of flesh.”
ATMOM
 
Shoggoth
 
…Each Shoggoth had at least “eight permutations.” He said, “Let’s say that creature A turns into creature A-B, then turns into creature B, then turns into creature B-C. And by the time it lands on a guy it’s creature E.” He discussed one grisly Shoggoth transformation: “It’s like when you grab a sock and you pull it inside out. From his mouth, he extrudes himself.” 
 
Other items of note:
 
  • The article mentions the “tension” in New Zealand that may have proved a factor in GDT’s decision to leave the HOBBIT production
  • GDT recently underwent sleeve-gastrectomy surgery to lose weight.
  • Some of the artists working on ATMOM creature concept design is Wayne Barlowe, Guy Davis and Peter Konig.

GDT Notebook Video

Many of you know the legend of Guillermo’s notebooks already. Within them reside the seeds to his movie magic – Oh, to just sneak a peak! I bet it is crawling with ATMOM tidbits as we speak! 

To the left is a cool little Hellboy sketch done by Guillermo that I pulled from IndieMoviesOnline.  Pretty cool, eh?

 Well, the next best thing to getting your hands on his notebook is to watch this video, also from the New Yorker. What do you think?

Cameron says Cruise is still a possibility

James Cameron recently confirmed that Tom Cruise starring in ATMOM is still a definite possibility, and the hope is for the film to get a greenlight so GDT can start shooting in June or July.

Don’t Be Afraid Gets International Distributor

Variety reports that Pathe International will distribute the GDT-scripted flick DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK to international audiences. Hopefully this will encourage a domestic distribution soon, as Disney had announced it would not distribute the project.

Bardem gets Oscar Nom for BIUTIFUL

In case you didn’t know, Javier Bardem scored an Oscar nomination for BEST ACTOR for his lead role in the GDT-produced film BIUTIFUL. Great to see a foreign film get recognized in this category.  Has anybody caught his performance yet?

Comments are closed.