
Guillermo Del Toro - H 2016
Getty ImagesWith Pacific Rim 2 shelved, Guillermo del Toro is actively seeking his next project and could follow up his Gothic romance Crimson Peak by going small in a really big way.
The filmmaker is in talks to develop and direct Fantastic Voyage, the remake of the 1966 sci-fi classic that is being made by 20th Century Fox and James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment.
The project not only reunites del Toro with Cameron, with whom he once tried to launch his passion project At the Mountains of Madness, but reteams him with David Goyer, the writer of his vampire action movie Blade 2. Goyer wrote the treatment and, with Justin Rhodes, the script for the new Voyage. The two will continue to work on the development of the script.
Voyage revolves around a team of scientists who are shrunk to atomic size and sent in a miniature submarine inside the body of a scientist in an attempt to save his life. The original movie was set during the Cold War, and the scientist was a defector who was in a coma after an assassination attempt.
The new pic is aimed at being an event-sized tentpole for the studio, which has not dated the project.
Cameron, Jon Landau and Rae Sanchini are producing through their Lightstorm banner. Goyer will also executive produce.
Matt Reilly is overseeing for Fox.
Del Toro was to have followed up Crimson Peak with Pacific Rim 2, a sequel to his 2013 Legendary Pictures mechs-versus-monsters flick. However, that project was taken off the release schedule, initially for more development. But sources now say the sequel is off the table indefinitely, leaving del Toro wide open to choose his next project.
Another factor that could impact Pacific Rim 2 plans is the imminent acquisition of Legendary by Wanda, the Chinese conglomerate. Pacific Rim did more business in China than anywhere else in the world, including the U.S., and the acquisition could spur on the development of the follow-up.
Del Toro is repped by WME, Exile Entertainment and Hirsch Wallerstein.
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