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Happy 2011, everyone! 

Die-hard Del Toro fans may be wondering what they can expect from the New Year.  I can guarantee this:  it will NOT be like 2009 and 2010 – which was chock full of a whole lot of nothin’.

Sure, we got some HOBBIT preproduction,  THE STRAIN trilogy, SPLICE, and some other nice things.   Actually, THE STRAIN was more than just ”nice”, it was pretty darn cool, but let’s get down to brass tacks:

WHEN ARE YOU DIRECTING A MOVIE, GUILLERMO???

Come on, that’s what all of you are thinking, right?  Let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room, give him a paper cut and pour lemon juice all over it.

But here is the thing:  the question above is not a desperate plea.  It is not a call to action to a man who is presumably sitting on the couch, watching Maury Povich and eating stale pork rinds. 

No, sir.  Guillermo KNOWS what he’s doing next. 

He just ain’t sayin’.

So, here is my fabulous New Year’s prediction:  GDT will be sitting in the director’s chair sometime this year, and I’ll bet we will see a new GDT feature in 2012. Bet on it.

GDT Challenges Developers

Kotaku is reporting that Guillermo is challenging the developers of inSANE, his new game with THQ.

Danny Bilson, one of the higher-ups from the game’s publisher at THQ recalled this ultimatum while talking to Kotaku today: “He said, ‘At the next meeting I want all of you to come to the meeting with one dream feature, one thing you’ve always wanted in a game … or don’t come to the meeting.’

And Danny already has his idea in mind, and it sounds great:

Mine’s Autotuning. To have a great fiction game, everyone has to finish the game. To have a trilogy you have to get to the end and care about the story. You can’t care about the story if you choke off halfway through or you get sick of it or fatigued or whatever. So the game will have the coolest [artificial intelligence]-based auto-tuning where it’s challenging for everybody.

Sounds great, Danny.  Sounds like storytelling is a premium for this project, and Guillermo is pushing the envelope. Hope they can pull it off.

More Tom Cruise rumors

Rumors again are circulating the internet that Tom Cruise has signed on for AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS, this time from a casual aside in an article at Deadline.

So here is the unbiased, fact-based report on Tom Cruise starring in ATMOM.  Here is what we know:

1. The Deadline report cites no sources in its assertion that Tom Cruise is attached, that said….

2. GDT is a Tom Cruise fan

3. And in a YouTube video posted by cronoticias.com, James Cameron says this about ATMOM at about the 6:29 mark:

I really don’t know what is officially announced yet…Tom’s very excited about doing the movie. I’ve known him for years. I would love it if he did it, but no deals have been made.

So there you go – it sounds like “Tom”, if that is indeed “Tom Cruise” that Cameron is referring to, is the first choice for ATMOM, but no official announcement has been made.

What do you think about Tom Cruise starring in ATMOM?

Guillermo Del Toro and THQ delivered a teaser trailer and a game title for their much anticipated video game collaboration at the 2010 Video Game Awards last Saturday.

We now know that the game series will be entitled “inSANE”, and GDT will serve as an “external creative director.  Interestingly enough, scrawlfx.com reports that Del Toro and THQ will also collaborate on “potential transmedia projects”, and that while THQ owns the rights to the games, GDT will hold to rights to any filmed entertainment products surrounding the games.

As The Simpsons’ Montgomery Burns would say, “It is all falling into place.”

With GDT’s collaboration with THQ, and the recent opening of his new “transmedia” production studio, we can see that with this deal, Guillermo may finally be implementing his vision of using multiple media platforms to tell stories. It is entirely possible that he could be releasing “companion” works (animated films? books?) that help form the narrative of the video games.

Here is something interesting I noticed – go to the official “inSANE” website (just launched).  Look at the logos at the bottom.  There is a DOUBLE DARE YOU logo!

 Some of you may recall that DOUBLE DARE YOU was originally a production label GDT had formed with Disney to create animated features. To my knowledge, this partnership was dissolved.  Why is it showing up on the THQ official site?  That is a mystery – but I do recall Del Toro mentioning DDY being a foray into transmedia storytelling. Here is what he told DelToroFilms in September 2009:

 I have been planning this, my new relationship with PIXAR/DISNEY for a couple of years ago> I have a plan and I have been carefully pursuing it- and, no, it didn’t start with THE HOBBIT. It predates it by a long while. I am trying to map out the next 10 years of my creative life and I’m touching the narrative forms I am interested on. That will include books, animation and games aside from films. I intend to be fluent in those languages and mediums, not as a user but as a practitioner.

Is it possible Guillermo is still using the DOUBLE DARE YOU production label for his transmedia projects?  We will have to find out. Interestingly enough, the DDY logo links back to DelToroFilms.com!

No additional details are available about that game itself.  Below is the teaser trailer and a red carpet interview from the 2010 VGAs.  Let us know your thoughts!

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.

Some interesting rumors have hit the internet around Guillermo’s new video game project with THQ and Volition.

The website MMOMFG.com has several insider reports, citing anonymous sources:

1. GDT is making plans for a trilogy of RPG games
2. The trilogy will be something “along the lines of Mass Effect.”
3. The games will center on inter-dimensional travel with the player investigating open dimensional portals.

Again, these are rumors from anonymous sources, so hang tight until the official word at the Video Game Awards (still can’t find a date for this – anybody know?)

The inter-dimensional travel part is definitely in line with GDT’s description of the game as being “Lovecraftian.”  (We got our first look at a Lovecraftian inter-dimensional monster in HELLBOY – see picture to the left.)

I admit I am not a HUGE gamer - not any where near what I would like to be.  I would like to hear from some people who have played MASS EFFECT. Please share your take on the game below in the comments.  What do you like about it? What makes it unique?

Last night, Guillermo Del Toro moderated a Q&A with Edgar Wright, Brian O’Malley and Michael Cera to promote the Blu-Ray release of SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD.  IFC has some great coverage of the event, including some transcripts and online video.

I highly recommend going to the link above and reading the entire article and watching all the videos. Just some great commentary on a great movie.

Of note was GDT’s take on how movies and video games will change and start to merge over the coming years. Check it out below:

The internet is a buzz lately about Guillermo’s desire to create the CITIZEN KANE of video games, as quoted in an excerpt from a recent WIRED magazine interview. In it, Guillermo said,

Wired: You’re describing a model that’s more like a videogame. Is the merger of movies and games the first step?

del Toro: Unfortunately, I’ve found in my videogame experience that the big companies are just as conservative as the studios. I was disappointed with the first Hellboy game. I’m very impressed with the sandbox of Grand Theft Auto. You can get lost in that world. But we’re using it just to shoot people and run over old ladies. We could be doing so much more.

Wired: But these nonlinear, hybrid storytelling forms involve gaming tech, which could trap them in a geek ghetto. What’s going to bring down that wall?

del Toro: Go back a couple of decades to the birth of the graphic novel—I think we can pinpoint the big bang to Will Eisner‘s A Contract With God. Today, we have very worthy people doing literary comics. I think the same thing will happen on the Internet-gaming side. In the next 10 years, there will be an earthshaking Citizen Kane of games.

Wired: Are you going to create it?

del Toro: I’ll be trying to make it. But I won’t be trying until after The Hobbit.

Guillermo has talked about this sort of thing before – he has always had an interest in video games and melding them with film and/or TV to create a complete multimedia experience. If you want to read a fantastic interview with Guillermo about video games, check out this August 2008 Q&A with EDGE MAGAZINE.

It briefly mentions GDT’s first attempt to develop a video game, a failed project called SUNDOWN with Terminal Reality, which we reported on here at DTF briefly in 2006.

A FREE Hellboy 2 iPhone game is now available for download, care of Tuesday Creative. The game is entitled TOOTH FAIRY TERROR, and it allows you to blast swarming tooth fairies with a punch of your finger. You can check out screenshots and a video demo here.

  

HELLBOY: THE SCIENCE OF EVIL is available in stores tomorrow for the Playstation 3, the XBox 360, and the PSP. This brawler-style game has Hellboy investigating a “Nazi plot for world domination”, and utilized Guillermo Del Toro and Mike Mignola as creative consultants. Check out these features:

• Original storyline set in the Hellboy universe, filled with classic characters from the comic book.
• Stunning next-gen graphics with dynamic lighting effects bring Hellboy to life like never before.
• Explosive battle system with contextual grappling commands lets players experience Hellboy’s supernatural might as he unleashes the Right Hand of Doom on his enemies.
• Use strategy to take down hordes of enemies – toss a straggler into the crowd or manipulate the environment to create more manageable groups of enemies.
• Play as series favorites Abe Sapein and Liz Sherman in cooperative multiplayer modes
• Full voice-overs by Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, and Doug Jones, from the feature film

And GDT recently spilled the beans on a “voice actor” guest – he posted this on the Hellboy message boards:

At the Bonus Level you can play as another character other than Abe, HB and Liz. You knew that-

But- can you guess who is voicing that character?

Yup- that’s right-

God willing HBIII will include HIM

Fanboys (and girls) agree – GDT is saying that none other than famed crimefighter “Lobster Johnson” will be in the game, as voiced by…I don’t know….just guessing here…a very EDUCATED guess…but a guess nonetheless….MR. BRUCE CAMPBELL.

Ready to buy the game? It is available for order right here at DelToroFilms.com:

XBox 360
PS3
Official Game Guide

Click over to the official Hellboy: The Science of Evil website to learn more about the game itself.