Guillermo del Toro dishes on Crimson Peak, Pac Rim 2, The Haunted Mansion and more!

January 16th 2013, 10:55am

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

With MAMA set for release this weekend, Guillermo del Toro has been making the press rounds. While he has certainly been talking up the upcoming matriarchal horror film (see Eric Walkuski’s interview with Del Toro and director Andy Muschietti), the PACIFIC RIM director has also taken the time to address his zillions of upcoming projects. Below you will find the broad strokes of a particularly revealing Q&A:

On whether he would consider shooting PACIFIC RIM 2 in 3D: “Yes. Provided, at that point, that the technology is becoming easier and easier…”

On his hesitation to convert PAC RIM into 3D: “They spent twice of what they normally spend on [this process], because they gave me the chance to pay ILM to do every single shot in native 3D. They aren’t being converted. So all the big 3D effects shots are being done by ILM from the get go. Normally they give a movie a 14 to 16 week conversion time [for 3D]. I started the conversion back in September. So it’s six months for conversion. It’s very classy.”

Regarding the lengthy development of his smaller films: “Those things take years to write. ‘Devil’s Backbone’ was like 15 years it took me to make. ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ it took me two or three years to solve the screenplay. I work on them but they are trickier propositions. As soon as I finish the screenplay to one of them, I’ll leave everything I have to go make it.”

Addressing the development of THE HAUNTED MANSION: “‘Haunted Mansion’ is very much alive and in process. Disney is very supportive and we are doing another draft of the screenplay… Yet another draft… I know we’re going to talk about other possible directors, for me to produce, and having written it, produce it for somebody else… It’s going to be scary. Hopefully it will be fun scary, rather than funny scary.”

Finally, Del Toro delinates the similarly ghostly THE HAUNTED MANSION from CRIMSON PEAK: “There are so many ways to tell a ghost story. ‘Crimson Peak’ is a gothic romance… It’s got a lot of darkness and sound and fury and drama and stormy; but at the core of it is a scary movie.”

And there you have it. While many complain about the director’s constant need to dish out updates on these proposed projects, I could listen to the dude talk all day. He’s a smart guy and, regardless of whether or not these films make it through the gate, it’s always nice to listen to him wax philosophic on movie making. Anyway, MAMA hits theaters this Friday. As such, keep on the lookout here for updates on that and all of his future projects.