Once upon a time a lot of us were under the assumption that Guillermo del Toro would direct “At the Mountains of Madness” with James Cameron on board as producer. You can kiss those thoughts goodbye, because Universal Pictures scrapped that project. They’re no longer investing their time and money on “Mountains,” which could partially have to do with the hundred and fifty million dollar budget that’s slapped on the adaptation of the H.P. Lovecraft novel.

Now that “At the Mountains of Madness” is officially out of the picture, which of the endless number of projects will del Toro commit to direct next? Legendary Pictures is making sure the next project he’ll be sitting in the director’s chair for is their latest picture “Pacific Rim.” Sound familiar? Well the company offered him the monster-filled project a few months back, but that’s the farthest Legendary went with the director. Now that “Mountains” isn’t on his plate, it’ll be some-what easier for them to lure him over.

The story is “set in a future in which malevolent creatures threaten the Earth, the planet must band together and use highly advanced technology to eradicate the growing menace.”

Surely he will have room to play around with making some cool creatures, but will this be another project that slips from his grasp? Mind you, prior to working on “At the Mountains of Madness,” del Toro was attached to direct “The Hobbit.” If you thought he invested some good pre-production time with “Mountains” that was nothing compared to the two years he put into the “Lord of the Rings” prequel before the project went to Peter Jackson.

It’s a real shame that this is the second time in a row it’s happened to the creative director, but hopefully with “Pacific Rim” (if he accepts it) third time will really be a charm.

Source: Collider