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PACIFIC RIM to be Guillermo Del Toro's Next Project! Universal Chickenshit Over an R!
Hey folks, Harry here... if I were a stockholder in Comcast or Universal - and watched as that studio is marching forward with STRETCH ARMSTRONG, OUIJI and BATTLESHIP... while leaving one of the most impassioned, amazing projects ever conceived. A film directed by Guillermo Del Toro - with Don Murphy - the producer behind the TRANSFORMERS money machine and James Cameron... Starring TOM CRUISE - who will be crazy hot after Brad Bird's MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL - which I'm hearing is turning out to be something rather spectacular...
Instead - we're going to get something altogether different from Guillermo, who will begin shooting PACIFIC RIM in September. How has this come about so quickly? Well, as is the truth with all instant new projects, there's been 8 months of work going on behind the scenes quietly in Guillermo's Man Cave and other secret locales, no doubt. This is a film with mind-blowing monsters and that's all I need to know. Not much is known about the project - other than Guillermo isn't getting to do AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS due to Universal's predilection with Board Games and Stretching Toys.
Right now, UNIVERSAL is in 5th place in the Box Office for this year. In 2010 & 2009 they finished up in 6th place, if they allow AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS to go away - they deserve their mediocre status. It is very rare that this industry actually has an incredibly passionate project to have the opportunity to make.
More often than naught, the projects are assignments - and the end results feel like it. But when you have a filmmaker that is as talented as Guillermo Del Toro - with the team he has behind him - and the first major A-List star lined up with him. There's a chance to make something that not only changes the industry, rewrites what is possible in Genre Filmmaking. But you sell this as the most ambitious horror film every made. You talk about going to the ends of the Earth to shoot it. You talk about the new technology created to capture it all. And then you begin unleashing images that would enrapture a public's mind. The R-rating would've made it an event. Something to chest beat about. A bold proclamation that UNIVERSAL isn't just about toys & board games.
I don't know why I'm so surprised to see cowardice from a studio like Universal. I loved that AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS was going to happen there. They essentially invented horror with Carl Laemmle - and that hasn't done anything bold with the genre since John Carpenter's THE THING. Here they had a chance to redefine the genre forever. To make a mark in the genre that made the studio, the studio it is. I can't even imagine the MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS theme attraction they could've put together.
Oh well... I weep not for Guillermo, but Universal... They'll be coming in 6th again it seems. The good news is, Guillermo will be shooting a huge new monster epic by the beginning of the Fall. And that, my friends, is a very good thing indeed.
Readers Talkback
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Guillermo's next is PACIFIC RIM - shooting in September! Universal is Chickenshit about the R-rating!
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big-budget movie because of the narrow-minded execs,then noone else can.fucking Hollywood.
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Lacked the atmosphere of the book. Nonetheless I would be excited. Love Tom Cruise. He had me at hello.
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March 7, 2011, 6:55 p.m. CST
If we're still getting a bigass monster movie from GdT, then okay...
by WriteForTheEdit
...but still, some studio chief WITH SOME BALLS has to pick up ATMOM and make it happen. Hey, Universal: looking forward to seeing "Battleship" sink like a rock...
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Because they really suck.
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Run by thirtysomething idiots who wouldn't know a great movie if it landed in their laps. That's right bozos, keep on shovelling shit. I hope every piecs of shit on your slate this year bellyflops. Fucking tools.
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Pussies.
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March 7, 2011, 7:18 p.m. CST
Now I have to root for bullshit like BATTLESHIP to make money.
by D Ropaela
Just so Universal will be flush with cash and confidence. Whadda fuckin' world. Oh well, I have high hopes for GDT's "Rim" job.
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Cocksuckers.
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When will it stop?! This studio bullshit is disgusting! The team begins this movie is pure gold. Simple. It would make tons and tons of money and be great. DOWN 4FOREVER WITH STUDIO BULLSHIT
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No balls, Universal.
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I was super excited for Del Toro's At The Mountains of Madness, now Universal pull this chicken shit move... Poor Del Toro first he loses the Hobbit, and now this bullshit... lets storm the Universal gates Helms Deep style
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March 7, 2011, 7:34 p.m. CST
Even I'd be pretty reluctant to sink $150 million into...
by xavier masterson
an R-rated H.P Lovecraft adaptation even if Cameron and Cruise were involved. Can't blame Universal for being nervous about giving it a greenlight. Disappointing but understandable in this cinematic climate. Gonna go watch Carpenter's The Thing.
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NADAFINGA!!!!
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Hell. I just imagine what GdT could've done with the Universal logo as the lights go down....Writhing tentacles comes slurping around the slowly-crumbling globe while inhuman, nausea-inducing croaking and chanting murmurs around the auditorium... Now we'll never know. Thanks for shit, Universal. "Battleship" - Jesus H Christ. Fuck that noise for a bagga doughnuts.
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FUCK UNIVERSAL.
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What else did they need to give the OK?! Highly disapointed, Universal. Since I wont be seeing Ouija, Stretch Armstrong, or Battleship, I guess Universal gets no money from me for a while. I feel sorry for GDT.
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March 7, 2011, 7:44 p.m. CST
Scott Pilgrim didn't make mega-money so passion projects are on hold.
by Stereotypical Evil Archer
It's a damn shame, Guillermo should have stayed with the Hobbit. If I win the lotto, I'll finance AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS... and King Conan with Arnold and Milius.
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LAEMMLE ... that's two syllables with the emphasis on the second one? Weird shit.
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March 7, 2011, 7:47 p.m. CST
because the first 2 paragraphs are fucking awful to any literate mind
by golden tribw
And I'm not trying to harp on you Harry, borderline nonsensical is par for the course, but this is almost impossible to understand.
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i never thought that is was going to be if the movie was ever made becaise realistically speaking it is a risky investement,even with Cameron's name on it. 100+ million dollars budget movies and R-rated ratings simply dont go together in Hollywood nowadays.
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As a huge Lovecraft fan, I was SO looking forward to this...while JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, JK Rowling, and now Edgar Allen Poe are getting their time in the cinematic limelight, it looks like we're going to have to go on waiting for a good Lovecraft adaptation. And I was sure Cameron's name was going to get this made, too... <p> In Universal's defense, this project is similar to Peter Jackson's King Kong, which they made and it bit the studio in the ass, as the thing sucked and made about half what they thought it would, (500 mil when they were expecting closer to Titanic/Return of the King numbers). Meanwhile, what does the studio have now? The Fast and the Furious franchise? <p>21st Century Hollywood pisses upon us again. CTHULHU HAVE AT THEM!!!!!
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...a lesson is to BOYCOTT their fucking board game movies!
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how about you convince Spielbitch to make JP4 now? You need a hit, and we might as well get something out of this debacle... <p> Poor Guillermo...two years on TH, then he leaves to do his Lovecraft adaptation, then that gets shit-canned. What piss...
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March 7, 2011, 7:57 p.m. CST
turd_has_risen_from_the_gravy, Prometheus is still Alien related...
by Fa_Tass_DinoMolester
So say Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, HR Geiger, and numerous spoiler reports. However, it's evidently no longer a prequel, but more a spin-off. <p> 2012...Ridley Scott's Prometheus and Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Oh, the humanity!!!!!!!! <p>BTW, why is GdT not turning his attention to his 3D Haunted Mansion film at Disney? I thought that was next...
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Whatever...
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Not three...
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...but it still would have trouble even cracking $75m. Thats the world we live in, its not really Universals fault id say. Geeklove doesnt make money, its gotta have populist appeal. Tom Cruise will make it even less popular, he just puts too many people off these days. Lovecraft, Cruise, $100m+ and R-Rating in 2011, be realistic.
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March 7, 2011, 8:07 p.m. CST
It is a modern Dai Kaiju film like CLOVERFIELD, So I am happy. However, keep hope alive for IMOM....
by the Green Gargantua
Warners can eat a dick btw.
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To fund the thing himself? I mean... $150 is really not that much for what they're planning on making. IThey could probably fund it themselves between Cameron, Cruise, Murphy and del Toro. If not, surely Cameron has the money, or could help get private funding, even more considering the talent involved. I don't know. This just doesn't make any sense. Or am I just being naive?
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This is nothing new. I am in no way surprised. This isn't the first time something like this has happened, and it won't be the last. As a matter of fact, del Toro seems to be something of an filmmaking tennis ball...bouncing from one project to another, with nothing ending up on the screen. I like his work, but right now, he seems to be more of a specialist in pre-production. Whether it is his fault or that of moronic studio suits is irrelevant. I just want this guy to get a movie made. He deserves the work, and we, the fans deserve to see it.
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Fuck the pope, too. Rapists, all of them.
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is that "Mama Mia" is the highest grossing film ever in the UK. <p> Schmucks.
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Keep Del Toro away from adapting work because he is terrible at it.
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There would be virutally no sex in ATMOM. Swearing? Ok, I can accept no swearing in the movie - it should be a period movie, so the characters would be a bit more proper and well mannered. But the MPAA draws the line at violence!!!! We can't have children watching scary violence!!!! WTF? Your whole culture is predicated on violence!!! Your government is responsible for the killing of a million Iraqi civilians for nothing! Red Staters stroke their guns like cocks! Fuck this shit!!!!!
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INTERESTING MOVIES! Like this movie. Christ. Even if it doesn't make billions. Take a fucking chance once in a while. Who thought giving Nolan BATMAN was a 'safe bet'? Who thought Cameron's blue cat people film using a completely new display technology was a 'sure thing'? Who figured a little unproven animation studio would create for itself an empire that eventually owned Disney from a little movie about talking toys? STRETCH, BATTLESHIP, OUIJA -- this films will fail. They are designed to fail. Just because people recognize the name of something does not mean they are suddenly zombies with force of will of their own, inexorably drawn to your brainless pap. No one on earth or in heaven wants a BATTLESHIP movie -- because BATTLESHIP has absolutely NOTHING interesting to say about BATTLES or SHIPS that hasn't been done better a hundred times in real films. Fuck you, Universal, Comcast, everybody who's so afraid to take a risk that they are, day by day and stupid decision by stupid decision, ensuring Hollywood gets further and further away from the relevance it is so clumsily grasping at. PEACE.
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started last Tuesday, They would have honestly back him up 100%, Just look at the success of Sony,with District 9 and later they went all out to get Neill Blomkamp next project Elysium. Universal needs to grow a pair, Noooo! they go and give Battleship a $200 million budget, What the Hell!! With Rihanna(looks like a giant midget) and Brooklyn Decker(who's not there for her acting, that for sure!) What are they thinking?? Bill Del Toro is pretty pissed right now, But he's a professional and he'll keep on going. Bill I'm with you pal! DumbAss! Universal
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Anyone read that graphic novel? It was about an island in the South Pacific constantly under siege by gigantic creatures, and the team of people responsible for fending them off. I always thought that was going into production...
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March 7, 2011, 9:30 p.m. CST
BTW, isn't Legenday doing both Pacific Rim AND Godzilla redundant?
by Fa_Tass_DinoMolester
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I watched Scott Pilgrim vs. The World 3 Times in the movie theater this past summer; after I saw it once for free. That's right I saw it 3 TIMES. I know there are Pilgrim fans who saw it more times. I know it did not make the major bank you wanted. But I paid for it 3 times. If you want another red cent out of me, you will get a fast tracking At The Mountains of Madness with a Hard R, thank you so much. I will probably not watch any other film you release until I know that one is in production. I will not be alone in this sentiment either.
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Funny you mentioned The Thing Harry, it was a box office dud. I'm disappointed there will be know Mountains of Madness but come on people, a 150 Million dollar 3D R rated horror movie? This project would have bled money. A PG rated Spielberg directed War of the Worlds barely made 200 million domestic, Del Toro needed to find a way to it cheaper, he shares the blame.
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Sadly, the industry hasn't learned the lesson of True Grit. Conventional wisdom was the film would perform somewhere between poor and mediocre. The reality is the style of the film, which would have been unremarkable some 35 to 40 years ago, stunned audiences with its (now-rare) casual solidity. Imagine: first-rate talent behind a well-crafted character-driven narrative. Because the film didn't play down to its audience, most notably, the much-vaunted 18 - 34-year-old demo, it brought out a long-neglected audience of mainstream filmgoers who long for well-crafted genre pictures. The studios might actually reverse the long decline in theater attendance if they could stomache respecting their audience. Universal's slate of game-based pictures and associated rejection of GdT's latest passion project is emblematic of a Hollywood that has lost its gumption. It reflects the old saw about why great golfers often fail: they try so hard not to lose, they can't win. The best response to this situation is to support independent studios and alternate means of distribution. Otherwise, we're doomed to a deluge of calculated (and invariably creaky) 'tent-pole' pictures, to wit, I Am Number Four, Beastly, Red Riding Hood and the like.
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March 7, 2011, 9:40 p.m. CST
Why don't all studios just film these movies as R rated...
by Andrew Coleman
Then release them pg-13 so they can get tweens and idiots into theaters. Then release the pg-13 rated dvd... Wait a month and give us real movie fans an R rated dvd we can enjoy. At least this way the film makers can make movies they want and we want. Studios will still make buckets of cash and with how things are going with netflix and redbox I don't see how that wouldn't work. I'm sick and tired of hearing stories like this from studios. They all lost their balls and only want to make "safe" films. It's pathetic. Audiences are to blame though, nerds and film geeks are too picky and for some reason turn against movies we should support(Scott Pilgrim for example). So instead tweens and retards go to the movies in droves. So we get horrible pg-13 comedies, tween action/roman films(Twilight, Red Riding Hood) and then just waves of kids movies. Only adult R rated films come out before Oscar time. It sucks.
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We all are aware of what happened with Watchmen, but I get the strong sense, that given all the stake holders involved in this 150 million hard R horror film, it would have done very nicely at the box office. You know how I know this? Because horror always wins the box office. Even cheap crappy derivative remakes of classic horror films like Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th and Halloween and Saw god knows what the hell installment, all of them win the box office. Cloverdale won the box office, and that was a weak half-hearted not even close attempt at doing this level of awesome for very huge wads of cash. At the end of the day, should Universal/Comcast remove their head from their collective rectum they will earn such money it will make the skies bleed red and cries of Ryleh! Cthulu F'tagn spread across the earth like vermin as movie goers make this film win as big as any other horror film does. Sure hollywood is a business, but that does not mean it should be run like a BAD BUSINESS as it currently is. They took a chance on Rango, that was a great risk and it will pay off handsomely for the rest of the month.
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It's a fanboy movie. It's going to cost a bundle. It's going to lose a bundle. Sorry, but Hollywood is starting to catch on that fanboy movies are box office losers. If they can being the movie in for under $25 million, maybe. But with Tom Cruise, 3-D, and James Cameron . . . it won't happen. The heyday of high-priced fan-boy movies is over. Maybe if they had Michael Cera as the star. I believe he will come in real cheap these days. Frankly, I'm starting to distrust anything Del Toro is involved in. He either doesn't deliver or what he does deliver is not up to standards, and just leave it at that.
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I wonder if Cruise/Cameron/DelToro were willing to budge on their pay scale for the movie? Doubt it. That's $30 million to the budget right there. Add to that "first dollar gross" that I am sure Cruise and Cameron get, and the movie would have to open HUGE to make a dollar. Not that I'm on Universal's side, but let's not forget superstars and their tastes for wealth and power too.
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I would hope that mukhtabi is correct and you are not, james_camera_on but I fear that is not the case. I'm probably one of HPL's biggest fans. I have all of his works, either in book form or on pdf. I have all of the audio books and the music from the HPLHS site. I have all of the movies, either made directly from an HPL book/plot like "Dagon" or a derivative of, like "The Mouth of Madness". I have even sat through the abominations (1 & 2) of "The Dunwich Horror" ... twitches ... HPL is unparalleled in the evocation of horror in short form and there are frankly very few people I would entrust with bringing that to the big screen. Del Toro is the only one that comes to mind. I would like to think that, if the movie were made as it should be, that not only would it make the studio money but that it would stand as a classic example of what CAN be done, both financially and artistically, with a film.
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what do we know about PACIFIC RIM ?
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Still can't say I'm surprised, though. Oh well, maybe PACIFIC RIM makes some dough and GDT gets more cred so he can make ATMOM. I hope so anyway. Well, this WAS my most-anticipated film project other than PT Anderson's INHERENT VICE adaptation. Shit.
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Holy cow. I mean, normally, I don't mind. Harry's grammar is normally far from stellar and I've come to expect overuse of... ellipses... for some reason.... I don't know why... I guess he's just too lazy to hit a period button or a comma. That being said, the grammar in this story is truly more horrific than anything that could have been spawned from the mind of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. I get it that you're mad and all Harry, but that's no excuse. If you're expecting someone to read your ramblings the least you could do is make them somewhat coherent.
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the day before shooting was scheduled, the same punk move they pulled on Soderbergh with Moneyball. Warner Bros. is turning out to be the only studio with balls and ambition for real films and I salute them. If only their blu-ray division was up to snuff and started using new encodes and lossless audio.
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Like the REAL screenwriter behind it, Travis Beacham. Why not give that guy some credit? This isn't "Del Toro's Pacific Rim", its Travis's spec. This would be the first movie Del Toro didn't write himself since, well what, ever? It's extremely disingenuous for you to suggest this is something else Del Toro has been working on when in reality it was someone else's project he's latching himself onto after two FAILED big budget projects. Yeah it's sad he couldn't get "Mountains" going, but come on, let's be truthful at least.
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March 7, 2011, 10:30 p.m. CST
Remember when the rumor was Pacific Rim was being rewritten as the new Godzilla flick?
by D.Vader
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...Guillermo gets signed on for after the bottom drops out of this one.
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When he has a hate hardon, it's hello hackery!
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It was rated R, and failed miserably...even though I liked it. Universal is not ready to throw another $20 million down the crapper. It's economics folks!
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March 7, 2011, 10:39 p.m. CST
Basically, this is Universal wanting to beat Sony/Legendary's Godzilla
by elgato73
And this apparently DOES NOT bode well for At the Mountains of Madness. Universal can sell toys of the monsters from Pacific Rim to the kids and try to recoup their investments from a film that is guaranteed now to be nothing but an absolute shitfest even with GDT involved. Guillermo doesn't give a shit about some Godzilla wanna be and if he thinks that by doing Pacific Rim that Universal is going to greenlight At The Mountains of Madness, he's fucking fooling himself. Universal has no balls to do that film. Madness is going to go back into development Hell once again. What I don't understand is this--where the fuck is James Cameron in this? Only a few months ago he all but said that Madness was going to be the next big film on his slate as producer and would start filming this spring. Well, Jim, spring's here and Madness looks to be spiraling back into development Hell. Do yourself a favor Jim. You burned a lot of bridges with your fanbase with Avatar. Get Universal off their asses or fund Madness by yourself (Hell, get Tom Cruise to help) under your production company and sell it to another studio. Repair the damage you did with your fanbase Jim and get Madness filming.
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March 7, 2011, 10:49 p.m. CST
Hahaha! Someone actually said Cameron burned bridges with AVATAR?
by ColonelFatheart
$2.7 billion in bridges, apparently.
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I was always taught to base my arguments on factual evidence and not generalizations. Maybe I'm too naive to expect that from others.
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Cameron's name as a producer is meaningless to studios, as Solaris, Strange Days, and Sanctum have shown.
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Uni does nt have the balls to go with this. I guess it cant be funded independently as Im geussing Universal holds the film rights to ATMOM, right? Im sure Cameron could secure private funding if Lightstorm held the rights to it as that is basically what he did with Avatar anyway. Most people dont seem to realize that Fox would only agree to pony up 40% of the cash for Avatar's budget...the rest was from private/indeopendent sources btw...
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TBs where opinion gets passed off as fact, and everyone gets spoken for by one or a small group with an axe to grind.... Like you, I too am hampered by needing things to either be factual, or god forbid, make logical, reasonable sense....
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can claim someone burned bridges after making a film that grossed 2.7 billion, and then sold over 20 million DVDsa and Blu rays..... If thats burning bridges, what the fuck does it take to build them then?
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day...cmon he deserves to get to make something like this.....
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March 7, 2011, 11:10 p.m. CST
Having sold a project to Uni only to watch them...
by Lionel_Richies_Hipster_Frames
...destroy it, this news is no surprise. They are one of the dumbest studios out there full of people who really don't love or care about movies. Universal execs gave me the sense that they care about being in Hollywood and working with who is hot, but when it comes to making great movies they don't know their asses from the elbows. They are about product, unless your name is Apatow. Apatow is allowed to take risks and gets shit greenlit but he's already made dough for them so it's no shock. With my project, they bought it in a bidding war only to destroy it and leave it dead on a shelf after countless rewrites by soulless hacks who Uni thought were better than me because of name recognition. They ended up paying writers more to rewrite me than they paid me for the script. They didn't even give me a legit chance to rewrite my project. They let a fucking actor rewrite my script at one point and he pissed all over it so much they buried the script so no one could ever see it where it's now in a shallow grave under a bungalow I'm sure. With Mountains, the R rating is the hurdle here in combination with Del Toro never having helmed a true box office event smash. If Bay, Spielberg, Cameron, Nolan, etc. brought this project to them they'd crap themselves to greenlight it, but they are all so afraid of their shadows there they don't want to be the ones to make the decision to take a chance on any kind of a risk. And filmmaking is always a risk. It's about balls and courage which there are none of at Universal. So try to get a project done at Universal without wanting to kill yourself in the process. It's difficult. I know.
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opinion of the Avatar:CE, with the 16 min added footage. Your thoughts? I found the future Earth stuff at the begininig actually set things up a bit better, cant see why it was chopped. Also, the hunt was pretty good...and the deasth scene at the end where Jake Sully does that mercy killing should have also been left in. But what was interesting was the difference in the CGI in that scene (having been done months later after the films release), you could already see a subtle improvement. Really makes me wonder how close to photo real they might get for those back to back sequals....
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Wolfman Scott Pilgrim Robin Hood The Adjustment Bureau Take Me Home Tonight Skyline MacGruber Kick-Ass Public Enemies Funny People Mummy 3 Hellboy II Evan Almighty They keep sinking money into films that underperform at the box office. I don't blame them for starting to get cautious with big budgets with so few hits in the last several years.
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All in the same day I get the awesome news that this will happen, and now reading that it will not. WTF FUCK YOU UNIVERSAL!
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They probably still think they're going to make a Van Helsing sequel. Morons.
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So you're going to kill off a Del Toro/James Cameron production with Don Murphy and Tom Cruise involved....something that borders on fantastical...for fear of the rating/budget/outcome? Hey, then do us a favor and end the joke that is Ron Howard being involved with The Dark Tower. Use those same sensibilities and keep a thoroughly average dramatic director from ruining it. Save yourselves the money and us the trouble of calling you jackasses (again) when you screw it up.
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GDT hasn't written his own movies since ever? GDT wrote Pan's Labyrinth, you dumb fuck. And the damn diarrhea coming from your putrid pie hole didn't end with that inaccuracy either. What exactly where Del Toro's two big failed projects? If you meant The Hobbit, that film IS being made using a lot of the material GDT created. He simply isn't directing it. Hardly a fail in any sense of the word. And ATMOM will get made you gibbon. Sooner or later it will happen.
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you can create your own movie studio for 2 grand. instead of bitching about the studio suits get a couple cameras. Film up some shit and edit it on the new ipad. Primer was the best film of the last 10 years.
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Universal has been losing their ass on geek friendly films that always end up bombing. A $150 million hard R Lovecraft movie is almost guaranteed to bomb. After the failures of Scott Pilgrim, Doom, Serenity, and the fact that Del Toro's last big hollywood movie Hellboy 2 just barely made it's money back, I wouldn't touch this movie with a 10 foot pole. As a fan, it'd be incredible. As a business, it's a stupid idea.
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ΗΑΗΑΗΑΗΑ οh my,the haters just dont give up,right?
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Can anyone recommend another source (seriously, i'd like to know) where i can read whatever Harry is gibbering about here? It seems par for the course now around here to make oblique reference to a totally different story or article when reporting on something, thereby making your actual point...muddy...to say the least. I'm now actually having to guess what the news is about at Aint It Cool News.
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"If Family Guy makes a nostalgic throwaway joke about it, greenlight a $75 million movie. Is Pauly Shore busy?
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March 8, 2011, 8:35 a.m. CST
what happened to you Universal? you used to be cool
by The_Crimson_King
there's no doubt that Universal has some great films to it's name, but they've really waned in the last ten years, the only Universal movie I enjoyed in the last couple of years was Scott Pilgrim (fuck all you cunts who didn't see it in theaters) I mean didn't Spielberg pretty much abandon them for Paramount after The Lost World: Jurassic Park? I guess I can see why on a related note, stop fucking drip feeding us with the blu rays, we had to wait fucking FOREVER for Back To The Future and here we are STILL waiting for Jaws and Jurassic Park, hurry the fuck up already
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Connect4: The Motion Picture... Summer 2012... from Comcast/Universal.
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... the new Terry Gilliam? Seriously, who did GDT piss off?
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March 8, 2011, 8:43 a.m. CST
It really isn't Universal's fault. GDT has some blame, here.
by AlienFanatic
I really think that for all of his enthusiasm, prepping an R-rated horror film for $150M was always highly unrealistic. As Deadline mentioned in its article, NO horror film, ever, has made anywhere near the kind of money they would have needed to cover the costs of the film. Also, as much as some love H.P. Lovecraft, he's not exactly a household name, so expecting boffo business from the name of a guy that died almost 80 years ago would have. GDT should have thought a helluvalot harder about how to cut the budget on it to sell it to Universal. You look at the $25M films that have been coming out from guys like J.J. Abrams, Blomkamp, and Duncan Jones and you realize that super-creative people can stretch a budget and create films with scope without killing the budget. I'm almost certain that GDT could have sold the film at half the budget and put out a film that would have totally satisfied the purists.
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But at least the game lent itself to narrative. And Landis was involved.
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March 8, 2011, 8:47 a.m. CST
"Clue" also had one of the better comic ensembles assembled.
by D Ropaela
Nothing is encouraging about the upcoming slate of boardroom, er, boardgame pictures.
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yup, The Lost World was the last movie Spielberg directed for Universal and Jurassic Park 3 was the last movie he produced for them, I guess we now know why he abandoned them
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March 8, 2011, 8:52 a.m. CST
I thought their Wolfman remake turned out surprisingly well and gory t'boot.
by Mr Nicholas
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as is obvious with this news, part of the problem with Hollywood these days is that they've lost their balls, I want movies with naked women for the sake of naked women again, with violence for the sake of violence again, no more of this constant watered down PG-13 bullshit, most of the movies that have teeth these days are horror movies, that Friday The 13Th remake sucked, but it was just nice to see tits on a movie screen again
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Come on, you can do it.
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I suggest you reread my post a little slower and more carefully this time so that you can see where you made your mistake and understand how much of a fool you just made of yourself. Also, as it stands, Del Toro's vision of the "Hobbit" failed and ATOM isn't *currently* being made. So, yes, they are two currently failed projects.
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Shit - I can't believe this! Del Toro has to make a PG13 movie?!?! Now he has no chance at all to make a good movie! Afterall - Citizen Kane sucked because Orson Welles couldn't say FUCK. Could you imagine how cool that man could say "Fuck". It would be like the F made love to the UCK. Even more genre specific - Poltergeist wouldn't have sucked so much if it could have been R rated, same for Jurassic Park and even Avatar. So, fuck universal because they're letting Del Toro MAKE a movie that none of us have seen and hasn't even started filming yet?
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March 8, 2011, 10:49 a.m. CST
If PACIFIC RIM & GODZILLA are in the same universe perhaps they are setting up a giant monster continuity..
by the Green Gargantua
Hmmm, maybe that is toooo cool?
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I do wonder if GTD does himself a disservice by making his giant slate of projects such common knowledge. I think he maybe discloses a little too much at times. Sure, his ideas are all seemingly great but when I think of the projects he's announced or just talked about it must make studios think 'Hang on a minute this guy has roughly 9000 films in states of development'. And Hollywood is a business, I don't see the sense in greenlighting Board Game movies myself but then I never saw the sense in greenlighting theme park attraction movies either and POTC franchise turned out pretty profitable. I think I understand why GTD does it - there seems to be a level of just excited joy about him and that's great - but when he announces Hellboy III will feature all the Universal monsters or that he will adapt Drood, Frankenstein, Haunted Mansion, Jeckyl and Hyde, Slaughterhouse 5 etc etc etc - it just seems a huge BLAAAAAAAARRRFGGHHHHHHHH of excitement rather than a business plan. It is a shame that this has happened though.
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The last thing we need is another series of movies in which each installment acts as a trailer for at least two other upcoming installments. *ahem!--"Avengers"--ahem!
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March 8, 2011, 10:58 a.m. CST
It's true: Cameron and Del Toro deserve much of the blame.
by D Ropaela
They certainly shouldn't have been such fucking big mouths about it.
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ps fuck u Universal
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Universal is giving us Battleship! Maybe they can also bring us features on Monopoly and Aggravation!? My imagination is running wild with all these possibilities! Universal, you are braindead.
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March 8, 2011, 11:35 a.m. CST
thatchicken : HEY I LIKE THAT STUFF!!! HFS a giant monster world??? Are you fucking kidding me? RAGING NERDON.
by the Green Gargantua
I think the Avengers shit is way cool. Connect X-Men and the Fantastic Four reboots to that paradigm and finally we have a Marvel universe on screen.
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and thus would never happen! <p> How awesome would it be to have a group of characters going around the world, fighting all manor of original and revamped monsters, and popping up in each others' movies?! <p>It would be like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, except...the...Legendary Monster Universe?...and it would be for us 11-year-olds rather than the superhero six-year-olds in their Spider-Man pajamas!
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Shit, I think we need more giant monster movies, if anything. But I really don't think the continuity is necessary.
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"War of the Gargantuas" was one of the first giant monster movies I saw, way back when Grandpa Munster had "Super Scary Saturday" on TBS.
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And rub it in their faces.
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Fox?
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as a franchise where each film is about a different ship and a major battle that it was involved in. Seriously, they could jump all around different historical eras and cast new movie stars in each film. Part of the fun with each film in the series would be seeing what big star plays the next captain of said battleship, kinda like how Doctor Who changes bodies and is played by a different actor from time to time. Think of all the various ships and naval battles they could have adapted to film. There is the hunting and sinking of the Bismark, Battle of the Falkland Islands, Midway, Battle of the Coral Sea, etc... ... and those are just a few off the top of my head and ones that are more recent (World War I and World War II). There could also be ancient naval battles put on film about the Greek and Roman navies. It would provide a lot of opportunities to do something different yet marketable to audiences instead of trying to ram an alien invasion scenario into a battleship movie.
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Like he's some sort uber-director. Yeah Mimic and Hellboy were cool. Pan's put me to sleep. And Hellboy 2 was atrocious. Oh and by the way, Universal is the studio who backed HB2. So yeah, if I were them I wouldn't trust Del Toro either.
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You DESERVE the Comcast deal! (I dumped Comcast at the beginning of the year)
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not sure i really understand this article, or maybe its my brain-heart is point blank refusing to. What the Hell is going on? Pacific Rim is a board game? Huh!? Never heard of it. They won't be letting him do ATMOM because of a board game hang-up, which Pacific Rim is?...but they will be letting him do another monster movie!? Not universal but another Studio!? I'm so hurt and confused. Someone elaborate please.
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March 8, 2011, 1:12 p.m. CST
"Pacific rim" sounds like a euphemism for "peaceful asshole."
by THE_CHOPPAH
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March 8, 2011, 1:21 p.m. CST
Universal took it's chances the last few years and got burned for it.
by gautsid
Maybe Del Toro should figure out a way to do this money way cheaper? Or commit to a PG-13?
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Other than Scott Pilgrim vs. Good Movies? How can that possibly compare to a big budget horror film (perhaps the most marketable fucking genre) produced by James Cameron and starring Tom Cruise?
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For all of you who are bitching and screaming about this movie not being made please be quite. First of all Del Toro and his work, and his style is for a niche market. Plus Del Toro hasn't really proven himself to be commercially viable. So yeah before a studio give ton's of money to a project that is geared towards a "niche" market they would like to have some kind of guarantee that they will get a return on their investment. And lastly the book itself isn't really all that accessible itself. I think that most of you that are bitching and screaming haven't even read the material, and are jumping bandwagon so that you can be in the know. Just reading a synopsis of the book i was like ????????????? It sounds like something that the Sci Fi channel would produce.
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70% of the talkbackers bitching are Del Toro fanboys. Lovecraft is still pretty obscure literature. The movie cant be marketed on it being from a Lovecraft story, the movie cant be marketed on it being directed by Del Toro. The studios realize this and is most likely the reason why Tom Cruise is attached. He's the one thing that can market this film. Lovecraft and Del Toro are both in this cult market that is very hard to make money off of. Read a Lovecraft story, anyone, and you'll realize why its so hard to get this movie made.
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Fools
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Pan's Labyrinth didn't just appeal to the niche market. 19 million budget and over 80 million worldwide box office looks very commericially viable to me. More proof if we are talking money. Blade II made over 150 million worldwide. Hellboy II did 10 million more. The dude hasn't lost money on anything since Mimic at the cinema and that smalll amount of 5 million loss has been covered by dvd sales alone now I imagine. Prove himself? He did that and was given one of the biggest movies in cinema history to make - The Hobbit. Ok granted, I'll give you that the book is not that "accessible". But that's why you bring in a dude like Del Toro to translate it to the screen
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HB2 sucked, and those who defend it are delusional. And the Hobbit careened so far off the map they had to bring Jackson in.
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March 8, 2011, 2:55 p.m. CST
TBers are so predictable. Here come all the Universal apologists-cum-contrarians to comment.
by THE_CHOPPAH
They were biding their time as they waited to see how their hairy overlord Devin Faraci would comment on the situation so they could take their cues from him. Now that this thread has gone through the initial wave of righteous geekazoid outrage and the snooty, contrarian counterpoints, it's time for it to devolve into a fetid melange of insults, trolling and verbal buggery. In other words, it is CHOPPAH time.
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It deserves Boardgame: The Motion Picture and its four sequels. It also deserves to have liquefied raccoon shit poured down its collective throat.
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March 8, 2011, 3:17 p.m. CST
i understand the business but frankly couldn't give a shit
by Smack_Teddy
because its about the accessibility of the movie in its translation to the audience, and as Barry knowles points out its crap that Del Toro hasn't proven himself commercially viable. As long as they're not insisting on Inception or Transformer 2 like grossings its all good right? They're not insisting on that right? I'm not even sure i agree with the idea if understand it correctly that the book isn't accessible to a large audience to begin with. Maybe its the suits who need to stop moaning and crying and throwing toys out the pram about having to suss out blockbuster prod-financing marketing and profiting from anything else other than, well... giant robots & cars & guns & explosions & awesome cleavage/ass & hopefully the current Will Smith while were at it (not that you wouldn't see me watching any of those movies in the theatre)... or obvious ultra cultural trends like fantasy in gaming-film from WoW to LOTR/HP doing the rounds for example...
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It all makes sense now: Guillermo Del Toro Guillerm De Torro Torro Guillerm Terro Gillerm Terry Gilliam A visionary director with a name that resonates in the corporate hive mind with an untouchable. No wonder his projects get shit on
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I'm just curious. When last I looked, IMDB had it listed as a TREATMENT/OUTLINE as opposed to full screenplay. Maybe Legendary was just keeping it under the radar until they got a commitment from Mr. Del Toro. I love the guy's work, but I have to say I'm more into his smaller films, like PAN'S LABYRINTH. That said, maybe he will revisit ATMM in a few years from now when technology has advanced sufficiently to make the film more cheaply.
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March 8, 2011, 4:30 p.m. CST
Universal did Scott Pilgrim. What a failure of a studio.
by THE_CHOPPAH
Those cocky cocks will pay for their crimes against humanity.
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March 8, 2011, 4:41 p.m. CST
Every major studio is chickenshit. That's why it all sucks.
by alienindisguise
Originality makes the suits piss and shit their pants simultaneously. I'm glad the landscape is changing where in the future Hollywood will not be needed in the creation or distribution of film because they are some clueless fuckers.
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March 8, 2011, 5:07 p.m. CST
We need a really eccentric, badass billionaire to come through with funding.
by THE_CHOPPAH
For this and other insane and huge projects. Oh wait. I'm a really eccentric, badass billionaire. Guillermo, call me!
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as to just how many times del Toro said "Fuck" after getting the news ATMOM was a no-go. But hey....at least there's a del Toro GIANT MONSTER MOVIE on the way. Fucking silver-ass lining. Fuck.
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That artist is really talented, friendly, and fucking smart. ATMM is his dream project, and I am sure we'll get to see it eventually. That being said, I say whoever is not funding this project is really missing out on a great opportunity, the only thing us geeks can do is come up with more stories and offer it to good Film makers first instead of selling out.
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I'm hoping we get more independent film makers that can do epic movies without epic financial head aches. We need more Rodriguez TroubleMaker studios.
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C'mon. You known you were thinking it.
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http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Y5TwdoOLPTI/TUmtwOyi8fI/AAAAAAAAQUs/vdBwzwskZZo/s1600/godzilla2012.jpg
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GDT: Hello? This is Guillermo. Voice: Mr del Toro. This is Terry Gilliam. GDT: Mr Gilliam! How da fock are you? Gilliam: TAG! You're IT!!! HEEEEE-HAAAAA!!! *CLICK-bzzzzzzzzz* GDT: FOCK. FOCKING-FOCK!
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its just that kind of niche horror movie. Girls wont want to see it and its rating isolates a large market. I don't think they'd have a single issue taking a chance on ATMOM if it had a budget of $50-$60 million, but it'd really have to have Pandorum's budget ($33 million) to get made me thinks.
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No, it wouldn't. Shut the fuck up.
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http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/19770/madness-collapses-del-toro-s-mountains-
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no wonder they dropped it!
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There's no real interest in big budget R-Rated movies at the moment and there might not be for a while. Also, generally horror is only profitable because it's relatively inexpensive to produce. BTW, even though it's probably fake, that Godzilla concept is pretty cool.
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Cameron has made those fuckers BILLIONS, he should demand ATMOM be made properly. Gutted man, just fucking gutted about this.
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March 9, 2011, 2:12 a.m. CST
Del Toro is a -visionary-, but not a revolutionary director
by Chet_P_Disney
With something like ATMOM you need a -revolutionary- director or you need to step away from the property. With Guillermo we'd get a stunningly beautiful, incredibly expensive but strangely hollow film filled with overly-designed monsters and poorly choreographed action that would reach a respectable but not outstanding gross. Why throw Lovecraft's works away for another generation like this? Save it for someone like Cameron, Nolan, Fincher or even Jackson...
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Of the gay porn by the same title? Cause if it is, it has alot to live up to :-)
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So ATMOM isn't happening now? And del Toro's doing a movie called Pacific Rim? Is that right? Any idea what Pacific Rim is about? Can someone please, please, please make Harry look at a tiny grammar book called 'The Elements of Style'?
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I officially give up - I can’t let myself care about Mountains of Madness anymore. It’s like Neuromancer: it will get made or it won’t but I’m done thinking about it and SO done hearing about it.
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Except a good time. Call me, sailor. ; )
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March 9, 2011, 12:41 p.m. CST
Nerds Unite to save the film! http://movies.ign.com/articles/115/1154348p1.html
by Justin Steele
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I wonder if what happened to Scott Pilgrim in the face of the overwhelming positive feedback from online fans is affecting their decision making process.
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Suck my facial feelers, greedy studio chickenshits! Fucking Pilgrim is ending up in the bloody black and so will this, if it's not an outright mega hit.
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two snowbound horrors with the 'Thing' prequel due later this year? Lets hope that ATMoM gets made but without being seen as part of a trend by those not familiar with the source.
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Movies have become a sleepy-time-out for grandparents and their grandchildren.
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I'd just like to say that Universal is making a mistake if they don't fund this film. A gigantic, ego-shriveling, multi-million dollar mistake. Suits are cautious, I understand. It's in their nature to be tunnel-visioners instead of interested movie goers. But no risk equals no reward. None, whatsoever. Universal deserves to fall even farther in the standings if they don't challenge themselves to take chances on films like this, films that stand to rake in not just huge profits, but garner awards and become part of film history. Think the folks at Fox thought "Avatar" would make as much as it did? Most likely not even close. But they took a chance anyway, and boom, the industry changes. I'd encourage Universal to stop being so nervous and get real. High risk (relatively) equals high reward. Sometimes it's worth it.
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Just because Del Toro isn't a whore like Michael Bay that delivers diarrhea for the masses and to sheepheads like you, it doesn't mean that the guy doesn't deserve praise. And kudos to barryknowles for totally owning you with his reply.
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They wanted stupid, they got stupid. Instead of interesting.
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Long gone are the days where big studio movies got made because there was artistic vision involved. Now it's all about merchandising. Maybe if we're lucky a director who turns in a "Dark Knight" will be thrown a bone and allowed to direct a pet project, but del Toro has yet to deliver a "Dark Knight". Universal is not going to back an R-rated non-sequel horror movie based on a relatively obscure novella from a relatively obscure author with no real merchandising potential. And don't get me wrong, I am a huge Lovecraft fan, but he does not have the same public recognition as Stephen King. Even with Tom Cruise's name on the marquee, this was never an easy sell. Hell, chances are Universal thinks it's a remakes of Carpenter's "In the Mouth of Madness", and everyone knows that was not a success. Hard times for epic horror movies, folks... hard times.
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There is no excuse whatsoever for waiting until Pearlman is too old to do the final Hellboy.
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March 13, 2011, 1:41 a.m. CST
... if You were a stockholder....You what if You were a stockholder
by Mundungus
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Universal Execs are worse than cowardly. I saw Guillermo's production, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, at the University of Virginia, before the same schmucks delayed the release of that film. It's a wonderful flick, and I hope everyone gets the opportunity to see it in a theater as well as on Blu-Ray. I suspect things will only get worse with the COMCAST merger at Universal. I've known and admired GDT's work from the start. GDT was and is a visionary, and the finest screen auteur in fantasy and horror since George Romero, John Carpenter, Sam Raimi, and Don Coscarelli. I have to ask the same or similar questions about Del Toro as to why Carpenter's The Ward is delayed, or why Romero had to escape to Canada to get his movies produced? And this must be why, after Phantasm 2, Survival Quest, and Beastmaster (not bad, but not what DC wanted) that Don Coscarelli has stuck to the family biz and stayed far away from the major studios. Instead the studios continue to rely on remakes from insider hacks like Breck Eisner (truly a "sonofa" with no imagination), who "re-imagine" Carpenter and Romero to death, rather than letting the masters create their own new works. If James Cameron and Sam Raimi have difficulties greenlighting movies, after billions at the box office, what kind of hope is there for the likes of GDT and Frank Darabont? Is it cable TV, where Darabont is puting his brilliant imprimatur on Kirkman's Walking Dead? And how can we as fans help GDT, Carpenter, Romero, Raimi, Stuart Gordon, etc. If I see another cheap, Michael Bay-produced and lame horror remake, and I can't see the product of the real film artists in this genre, perhaps I can wrap a reel or two of film around some Hollywood executives over-inflated head. As for folks moaning about Hellboy 3; I wouldn't worry, the pic will likely happen as soon as GDT finishes a script and compares notes with Mike Mignola. Perlman has said he'd do it if GDT wrote it. And the one thing GDT is good at is multitasking--so long as the projects are going to be released and distributed.
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His mother dressed him like a girl. There are photographs of him with Goldilocks hair and a pinafore in L. Spreague Decamp's biography
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some of the worst, semi-literate babble I've ever read, OR you are a marketing genius because you forced me to read the entire article to understand what the fuck you were talking about and Universal probably paid you to engage is some sort of reverse-psychology stealth marketing campaign for its upcoming slate of drivel and now I just wasted 10 minutes of my life and I'm stoned.
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March 14, 2011, 1:15 a.m. CST
OVER IT, PACFIC RIM SOUNDS FUCKING AMAZING, read:
by the Green Gargantua
ATMOM will happen eventually, till than I am way too excited about this to give a shit: http://www.newsinfilm.com/2011/03/10/details-on-guillermo-del-toros-pacific-rim/
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Between Riddley Scott's Prometheus, Jackson's The Hobbit and Guillermo's Lovecraft epic my movie-watching life was complete. Now the world seems a little less bright, and a lot less interesting. Fuck you Universal!
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Studios usually get it right when it comes to the money more often than not. Its better to go low budget and outsize than to go high budget and tank(hi Mars needs Moms). If you want to make your genre-bender that defies conventions... you'd better be able to make it on a very tight budget. $150 million for a genre R film.. you'd better have a name like The Matrix or you're toast. H. R. Lovecraft adaptation? Ya.. those have an absolutely marvelous track record. HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHHHAAH.. I wouldn't even greenlight that risk. One thing is for sure, the studios have definately learned that listening to slobbering fanbois that don't give a shit if they ever make money hasn't worked. Its a business. Come up with a plan that makes business-sense and they don't give a shit if its a glorified snuff film as long as they make some money on it.
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March 19, 2011, 6:42 p.m. CST
They are rewriting Pacific Rim because of Japan's disaster
by michael krakomberger
So the geniuses at the studio are asking for a rewriting of Pacific Rim to make sure that no monsters attack Japan because of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. <http://www.movieweb.com/news/guillermo-del-toro-rewriting-pacific-rim-because-of-japan-disaster> Yes, that is compassionate and incredibly stupid at the same time. I mean what country is synonymous with the so called 'Ring of Fire' and the most prominent Pacific Rim county? That's right Japan. So lets just pander to stupidity again and ignore that fact because of a natural disaster. That's like not making Gangs of New York or any of the innumerable number of NYPD associated movies because they make New York look like an unsafe and dirty place after 9/11. Who runs these studios?
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Looks like that 4th grade education is working out rather nicely for you . . .
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