There must be something in the water down in Mexico, something that breeds incredible cinematic visionaries quite unmatched by their professional peers. Alongside filmmakers like Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro is one such talent – and it appears he has a lot on his plate.
Following the recent announcement that a sequel to Pacific Rim was hoped to be released in 2017, del Toro has also let slip that he intends to shoot a very small black and white picture before he sinks his teeth into another helping of kaiju/robot mayhem.
Considering his notoriety for being a director involved in certain projects that fail to get off the ground or result in his departure for varying reasons, it’d seem unsurprising that del Toro would remain relatively tight-lipped regarding his career choices – but with this double whammy of film news, I for one couldn’t be happier.
Approaching the final days of post-production on his upcoming horror flick, Crimson Peak, Guillermo del Toro certainly has his hands full, cramming in another film before he gets to work on Pacific Rim 2, but the Hellboy director seems very calm and assured about his time-management skills.
Speaking to Collider, del Toro gave a few indicators concerning his forthcoming schedule and what to expect from his future endeavors:
“Right away, in February/March I should [start on] another very small movie, black and white, really, really bizarre before starting—we start pre-production on Pacific Rim 2 in August, and then I interrupt it briefly to go into the first of next year to do this strange little movie, and then I restart it and go all the way until we start shooting Pacific Rim 2 at the end of 2015 for release in 2017.”
Yet he still seemed coy about revealing too much about this ‘very small movie.’ Nevertheless, he did mention his ideas for casting:
“It’s a very small cast. I would love to have John Hurt, and there’s an actress that I have in mind that is not well-known but I’ve seen her in a short film. That’s all she’s really done, one feature and one short, but she has an incredibly interesting taste and I’m gonna try her out for the main role.”
And, for those familiar to his work, when pressed further for any information, del Toro simply responded by saying:
“There’s one great creature in it.”
This, of course, should entice anybody familiar with del Toro’s previous work. Films like Hellboy, Pacific Rim and – perhaps most of all – Pan’s Labyrinth (whose Pale Man character remains in the psyche long after the credits roll) all demonstrate the man’s incredible pension for everything monster-related; while looking at the latter alongside his other Spanish-language pictures The Devil’s Backbone and Cronos, you can also respect his keen eye for the humanity that co-exists alongside the fantastic and mythical.
So, whether it’s Crimson Peak, Pacific Rim 2 or his untitled project, it seems there is something for everyone in the immediate future of Guillermo del Toro. Is he stretching himself too far? Or are you impressed by his desire to test himself as a filmmaker?
Whatever your thoughts, let us know in the comments section below!