Director Guillermo del Toro might be the hardest working man in Hollywood; or at least the one who would work the hardest if he could. With monsters vs. robots film Pacific Rim set to hit in July, The Playlist reports that del Toro is already considering what he’ll do next … and it sounds like it’s up for grabs.
First there’s the possibility of a sequel to Pacific Rim, which del Toro confirms he and writer Travis Beacham are already discussing. But that won’t be del Toro’s next project, as he says:
“I know I don’t want to do that next. I want to do something else, I want to do something in a different genre that’s not so big.”
I’m not certain, but I don’t think that the proposed Justice League Dark movie Heaven Sent necessarily qualifies as something “not so big.” Having ruled out directing the traditional Justice League film, del Toro is interested in doing a film of the more supernatural team that includes John Constantine, Madame Xanadu and Deadman. As yet, though, the talks are just talks. Heaven Sent will likely not see the light of day until after Pacific Rim and the proposed Justice League movie.
Not to worry, though. Guillermo del Toro is keeping busy:
“I know that next year I’m delivering ‘Pacific Rim’ in July and then I’m doing—God willing—the voice shooting for ‘Pinocchio’ and then the pilot for ‘The Strain’ for FX.”
Sheesh. So it sounds like del Toro is lining up a number of possible projects without resting on one. Pacific Rim will be the first del Toro-directed feature in five years, after his work on The Hobbit and the proposed film of Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness fell through. A lot of his future projects will likely depend on how well Pacific Rim flies at the box office.
Del Toro is one of my favorite contemporary directors – no one was more disappointed than I when The Hobbit and At the Mountains of Madness failed to pan out. But I’m a little worried that he might be biting off more than he can chew. It’s all well and good to be prolific, but there are times when del Toro’s future plans sound an awful lot like wishful thinking. Time, as always, will tell.
Pacific Rim hits in July. Whatever happens with it, we can be certain to hear a lot more of Guillermo del Toro in the future.