Guillermo del Toro is an Oscar-winning director with enough stock to create whatever he pleases, but it took a long time for Hollywood to give him his flowers. One of the few positives of the streaming era is that it provides a platform for filmmakers to tell stories that otherwise wouldn’t get made. Netflix has provided that platform for Del Toro, and after wholeheartedly supporting his recent successes, it’s time to let him return to a lifelong passion project.
In recent years, H.P. Lovecraft adaptations have thrived on streaming platforms. Color Out of Space and Suitable Flesh are just a few examples proving there’s a market for modern retellings of Lovecraft’s work. Del Toro’s love affair with Lovecraft’s most infamous story, At the Mountains of Madness, has been a long and sordid affair. Despite constant obstacles and even a cancellation, Del Toro has never given up hope, and Netflix has a chance to produce his best horror film yet.
A Brief History of del Toro’s Hollywood Struggles
Guillermo del Toro is no stranger to canceled projects and unrealized films. Hollywood deprived us of countless masterpieces, such as del Toro’s take on Justice League Dark, Doctor Strange, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars. There’s a timeline where The Hobbit trilogy lived up to its predecessor, and Jabba the Hutt had his own tragic romance movie. Even del Toro’s successful franchises, like Hellboy II, failed to land a sequel. It’s unlikely we’ll ever see his vision for any of these major franchise movies moving forward. However, his Oscar win for The Shape of Water afforded him a newfound creative freedom, which he’s used to revive long-dead projects from years ago.
Del Toro wasted no time breathing new life into his canceled neo-noir thriller, Nightmare Alley and bagged himself a second Oscar with his follow-up, Pinocchio. Now he’s pursuing another long-lost project, Frankenstein, which is shaping into another stylized gothic romance. It’s usually better to move on from past failures; getting hung up on failed projects isn’t healthy. Nevertheless, del Toro’s recent successes prove it’s worth revisiting his old material, and At The Mountains Of Madness is a no-brainer at this point.
Universal Canceled the Film for the Worst Reasons
At the Mountains of Madness is the definitive Lovecraft story. It follows a team of scientific researchers on their expedition to Antarctica, where they discover an ancient alien civilization buried beneath the ice. Fans of The Thing may find this story familiar. Del Toro envisioned his film as ‘Alien meets The Thing.’ Instead of jumpscares and terrifying monsters, the true horror comes from humanity’s insignificance in the face of existential dread.
Del Toro began developing his treatment in 2006, and by 2010, James Cameron had signed on as a producer, and Universal attached Tom Cruise to star. Del Toro was well into pre-production when Universal sadly canceled the project. Del Toro insisted on a huge budget and an R-rating, two elements that didn’t pair well in the early 2000s. He wanted giant, practical sets designed with intricate creature models and refused to compromise on his vision. The film would’ve reportedly exceeded $150 million, which is unheard of for a relatively niche, R-rated horror with an incredibly bleak ending. To make matters worse, Prometheus was in development at the same time and featured a similar premise.
What’s frustrating is that At the Mountains of Madness would’ve undoubtedly performed better than Prometheus, which was a very mixed bag. Universal would later go on to cast Tom Cruise in their ill-fated $125 million-dollar horror blockbuster, The Mummy, which was one of the worst movies of 2017. Studios’ preference for established IP, reboots, and sequels prevailed once again, but Netflix has changed the landscape.
Del Toro Is the Perfect Director for This Lovecraft Classic
Why should Mountains take precedence out of all of Guillermo del Toro’s canceled projects? For one, his passion for the project is relentless. After signing a multi-year deal with Netflix, del Toro wasted no time pitching Mountains of Madness. As he explains in a 2021 interview, “Take a wild guess which were the first projects I presented… Monte Cristo, Mountains of Madness. Those were a couple of the ones I presented first.” Even ten years later, he jumped at the opportunity to make the film, which makes total sense. The director has also discussed how his evolution as a filmmaker has refined his vision for the film: “I need to do a rewrite. I can go to a far more esoteric, weirder, smaller version of it.” He’s also discussed a preference for shooting in black and white. Del Toro has constantly played around with the film in his head for years, proving that he needs to make it just as badly as we need to see it.
Del Toro has consistently displayed his ability to showcase the brilliance of Lovecraftian horror in stories that have nothing to do with Lovecraft. His original projects, like Cronos and Pan’s Labyrinth, explore humanity’s insignificance and the unfathomable forces of the universe. Even his major franchise movies have integrated some aspects of Lovecraft’s work, like Hellboy and Blade‘s uniquely grotesque creature designs. After a career showcasing Lovecraftian concepts, Mountains would serve as a long-awaited meeting of minds. Placing Lovecraft’s original material in del Toro’s hands could lead to a genre-defining horror film.
Adding Tom Cruise back into the picture takes things to a new level. As a proponent of original cinema and his commitment to preserving the theatrical experience, straight-to-streaming might be a hard sell. However, Netflix has succeeded with limited theatrical releases, like Glass Onion and The Irishman. They’d have to be willing to extend that release window for Cruise, but his star power goes a long way. Finally free of his Mission: Impossible commitments, now is the best time for Cruise to explore other cinematic avenues outside of action franchises.
At the Mountains of Madness is not just a lost film we can fantasize about in our heads. This isn’t another Beyond the Spiderverse or Kill Bill Vol.3; there’s a very real chance we could see Mountains in the foreseeable future. It’s del Toro’s magnum opus in waiting, and after Netflix’s willingness to revive his other dead properties, there’s no reason not to give it the green light.