People be talking! People be talking about HP Lovecraft! People be talking about Guillermo Del Toro making a movie out of my favorite HP Lovecraft story At the Mountains of Madness! Those people are James Cameron, who is producing, and actor Ron Perlman, who's apparently had a role written expressly for him into the script by Guillermo. First let's check and see what The King of the World himself has to say to FearNet about where the film stands. (image via)
FearNet: What is it about At the Mountains of Madness that you find so fascinating? That's made you want to champion the film adaptation?
James Cameron: One word, one man – Guillermo. We've been friends for twenty years. We've been trying to work together, really, for that entire time. And it has never quite congealed. We're both Lovecraft fans. Me from my college days, when I discovered Lovecraft. I think I read everything he wrote in about a month. I powered through it. And if anybody can bring Lovecraft to the screen it's gonna be Del Toro.
He's got a real vision for the film. It's very, very well-developed in his mind. You know, I'm just there to facilitate his vision. I don't have any strong sense of authorship; zero sense of authorship. I'm just there to try to get it made and help him do the movie that's in his head.
FearNet: So it's still going to happen, but it's just a question of when?
JC: Oh we're very, very actively pre-producing the film right now with Universal. The design work is phenomenal, both the three-dimensional and two-dimensional design work, the physical maquettes, the CG test scenes; the artwork is phenomenal. The fans certainly won't want for a visual feast with this film. But there's [still] a bunch of number-crunching and "How you gonna do it?" and "How you gonna make it?"; "Where you gonna do it?" All that stuff."
If there's one thing that's never held James Cameron back, it's budget, so that aspect worries me the least. As long as he sticks to his guns here I think this will really be happening y'all! Oh, the wonder of it. Now for Ron Perlman, who gave up a little bit to io9...
io9: Guillermo del Toro wrote a part just for you in At The Mountains of Madness, since that character isn't in the original story by H.P Lovecraft, how does he fit in with the rest of the characters?
Ron Perlman: The movie takes place in the North Pole, and so I'm on board as this sort of dog sled dude. I spend my entire life with these dogs. So I'm a rough guy, among all these scientists. I'm a contrast to the deeply intellectual world that's being explored. I live outside all the time, I live in the elements. I'm a no-bullshit kind of guy in a world of guys who just live in their heads. So it's a beautiful role to play, given that backdrop. I kick some butt I hope we get a chance to do it.
io9: Are you guys going to start filming this year?
RP: Curiously enough, the film hasn't been officially been announced yet. I'm doing this TV show, so I have to see what the schedule of the movie is, when it's happening, whether it's happening. And whether it can all work out schedule-wise. So I don't want to get ahead of myself here.
Get ahead of yourself, sir! I need someone to hold responsible if something awful happens and this movie doesn't get made, and James Cameron's just too easy.
Perlman also talks a little bit about the possibility of he and Del Toro making a third Hellboy movie at that link, so check it.
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Cameron's involvement makes me slightly dubious, but GDT co-writing the screenplay as well as directing puts those anxieties at ease. I'm very, very excited for this project; as long as it gets made, that'll be an impressive accomplishment.
Not to be a nitpicky Lovecraft fanboy, though, but Perlman saying he's going to "kick some butt" makes me wonder if this'll be less cosmic horror and more action.
I don't personally recall them kicking much butt in the book... it was more like "reading hieroglyphics" and then "fleeing." But that wouldn't exactly make for compelling cinema, I suppose.
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