I was going through my notes and realized that I have a lot of items to cover this morning!  This is great – after two long slow years of waiting for THE HOBBIT to happen, it seems like there is an interesting news story coming out every day.  GDT’s career is definitely in full swing, which is good for the loyal visitors to this website. 

I will admit, however, that keeping this website up to date was a whole lot easier before PAN’S LABYRINTH. 

Ok, so here is what I got for you today fans – Enjoy!

1. The CRONOS Criterion DVD becomes available December 7.  You can preorder it now from the Criterion website.  In addition to Guillermo saying that the film is the “most beautiful” it has ever looked, there are some cool special features to check out:

• On camera interviews with GDT and Ron Perlman
• Behind the scenes footage
• Tour of “Bleak House”, Guillermo’s “man-cave”
• Photo galleries and pre-production art
• Commentaries from the original Lionsgate DVD
• A re-edited version of GDT’s short horror film, GEOMETRIA

2. On December 11th, Spike will air the 2010 Video Game Awards. Remember that announcements on THQ’s Guillermo Del Toro video game trilogy is expected on this date

3.  Some of you have asked what Guillermo’s role was with the recent Dreamworks feature, MEGAMIND.  Fangoria got the answer in a recent interview:

“I came in at the very end when they were shaping up that movie, advised them on reorganizing some of the editing and came up with ideas for a couple of little bits. I was really taken by how great and collaborative the spirit was in reshaping the movie a little. I had a blast. I’ve really longed to be able to do animated films, both as producer and director, because it’s an area where you have control over texture and color and shape in a way you don’t get in any other medium.”

4.  A lot has been said about the online rumors that GDT wants Tom Cruise as the lead in his planned AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS movie.  IndieWire reported a rumor today that GDT actually prefers James McAvoy, although it does not identify a source for the story. 

5. And now the BIG item that you might all be interested to hear- Fangoria also had this interesting quote from Guillermo regarding HELLBOY 3:

Will we be seeing a third in his HELLBOY series anytime in the forseeable future? Del Toro says that’s up to Perlman, who has expressed reluctance to return in the heroic title role. “You know, seven-hour makeup sessions per day get a little rough,” he laughs. “But there’s a website called Den of Geek in the UK that started a petition to get Ron to do a third HELLBOY [you can see it here]. And I must say that we got thousands of signatures, and Ron was very moved. We had lunch the other day, and Ron said to me, ‘You know, if you write it, I may do it.’ We got a very strong ‘maybe’ from the man!”

You heard it people – Ron changed his answer to “maybe”.  Your fandom does matter! Keep making your voices heard and maybe, just maybe, you’ll see a new HELLBOY film in the future.

6.  And now for some humor – many of you may have seen the recent College Humor video making the rounds on the internet: If Other Director’s Made THE SOCIAL NETWORK. Our pal Guillermo was parodied in the video. Very funny clip – check it out below.

You can now pre-order the new CRONOS Special Edition Criterion Blu-Ray and DVD at the Criterion website! Check out the details:

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Guillermo del Toro and cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, including optional audio with the film
  

Guillermo stopped by the message board to update us on the CRONOS Criterion DVD and the MIMIC Director’s cut DVD. Here’s what he had to say:

CRONOS is evolving nicely. We are including a NEVER-SEEN-BEFORE version of GEOMETRIA (1987) the short that I made for 1 thousand bucks and that I was never able to finish the way I wanted it. NOW I re-finsihed it for this disc (dont worry, no CGI or fancy stuff) and I like it- I never did before- but now I do.

CRONOS has never looked so beautiful and we found dozens of photographs of the making of the device, etc

MIMIC is looking fabulous. Some of the negative had been lost but we found alternatives and are finishing the Director’s Cut. VERY HAPPY!!

In Criterions recent email newsletter, there was a picture (see above) hinting that a CRONOS Criterion DVD is in the works.

GDT has hinted at this back in November, so we knew an announcement like this was coming, but we do not have any details on the content at this time.

The Criterion Collection is a privately held company that develops “important classic and contemporary films” for DVD and Blu-ray. According to their website, they “work with directors and cinematographers to ensure that the look of [their] releases does justice to their intentions.” In short, this should prove a fantastic release and a great “inside look” into Guillermos first big theatrical effort.

  

Guillermo mentioned in an interview posted by SciFi.com that his Director’s cut DVD of MIMIC is still in the works:

I’m working on it. I’m doing it. It’s going to be as close to a director’s cut as we can. We actually had a great experience the other day. We watched my original cuts, and we were like, “Oh my God, this is such a f–king different movie.” … We rescued it because I kept a copy at the right moment. I said, “In case it never happens, I’m going to distribute it at conventions.”

  

Here is what GDT announced in a recent interview posted on SciFi.com:

I believe that very, very, very soon we’re going to be announcing a very special Blu-ray edition of Cronos. And when you know who is doing it and how we’re doing it, it will be more exciting. I cannot announce it properly, but we’re doing a Blu-ray of Cronos, which is very exciting for me, because it’s one of those movies that I think I want to revisit, retime, restructure the sound for the Blu-ray experience in a big way…

The HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY DVD will be in USA stores November 11 (tomorrow). Here are a few deals that you can find stateside (at least this is what is advertised in my area):

BEST BUY:

Blu-Ray Collector’s Set: Includes Blu-Ray 2 disc set, Golden Army figurine, GDT Sketchbook, and Drew Struzan mini-poster $49.99

Buy HB2 3-Disc DVD, plus THE INCREDIBLE HULK, FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, or THE STRANGERS for $30. Or buy all four for $50.

Buy HB2 Blu-Ray, plus THE INCREDIBLE HULK, FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, or THE STRANGERS Blu-Ray for $50.

Circuit City:

Free Collectible CD game card with purchase of Hellboy II 3-Disc set for $22.99. While supplies last.

DTF Store:

You can order your DVD from the DTF Store. These are the lowest retail prices (not including shipping costs).

Prices:
HB2 Widescreen DVD…$15.99.
HB2 3-Disc Special Edition…$17.99
HB2 Blu-Ray…$26.95
HB2 Collector’s Set…$39.99

  

YouTube has two videos up from the HELLBOY 2: THE GOLDEN ARMY DVD (Released November 11), offering a sneak peak into some behind-the-scenes featurettes.

The first is a Troll Market Tour with Guillermo:

And the second is a montage of clips from the “In Service of the Demon” featurette.

Thanks to Mania.com and our friend Spydaweb for bringing these clips to our attention.

  

Guillermo Del Toro’s short film “Do

DVDActive has the scoop on the Universal Home Video release of HELLBOY 2: THE GOLDEN ARMY. Not many details yet, but DVDActive reports the following:

…the 3-disc edition will include a digital copy of the film and around 3 hours of bonus content. The 2-disc Blu-ray edition will also include the digital copy, along with a feature that enables you to build your own comic book.

From the pictures below, it also appears that the 3-Disc version contains a Limited Edition Golden Army Statue and an excerpt from GDT’s Notebook.