Following my previous posting about the collapse of At the mountains of madness, Guillermo Dell Toro has given his side of the story in an interview for Deadline.com. I had to admit I almost blamed him yesterday when I found out he had dropped out, given how exciting I was about this film. But having read this interview, it all comes down to the studios not having the guts to follow up on the project, despite month of work by the director.
They just were not keen on a R rating in the US, and were nervous about giving the lead to Tom Cruise who seems to have become a box office poison that almost rivals ex-wife Nicole Kidman in its magnitude (I love Nicole Kidman by the way, it just seems that audience these days would choose root canal over watching one of her films)
I cannot believe how the Mexican director has not ended up being so bitter after being messed around twice in a row by Hollywood. Ever since the rules of success of a movie have become less and less clear, it's almost like studios are toying with more experimental directors only to be scared of their visions once they are on board.
But kudos to Guillermo del Toro to sticking to his R rated vision with a budget to match, while adapting to the studios demands, he refused to compromise on his vision and chose not to do the film at all (for now), a rare display of artistic integrity. He even seems to hint that all might not be lost for the Lovecraft mastepiece adapation...
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