del Toro luvs his Mama

Just because he’ll be insanely busy working on THE HOBBIT for, oh, the next five years, that doesn’t mean that Guillermo del Toro is turning his back on his proteges. Universal is currently developing MAMA, a thriller to be written and directed by Andy and Barbara Muschietti with del Toro producing. Guillermo would be very “hands on” in the production and is actually working to get filming down to New Zealand, where he is prepping HOBBIT, so he can be actively involved in the production.

MAMA is based on a short film by the Muschiettis and while details on the feature length project are being kept under wraps, the original short followed “two girls, Victoria and Lily, who are on the run from a ghostly woman who appears to be their mother.” The short is only three-minutes long but won a number of awards in Spain where it came to the attention of Universal execs.

The script is currently being written and del Toro has a number of other irons in the fire so it’s unclear when production could begin. And if anyone knows where or if the original short for “Mama” lives online, drop me an e-mail…

UPDATE – Thanks to our own Aaron Horwitz, we’ve just posted the original “Mama” short. It’s short, mysterious and creepy. Check it out here!