We should have many more Guillermo del Toro films in our lives; at least two. There’s a big gap in GDT’s oeuvre between 2008’s “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” and 2013’s “Pacific Rim,” even though the filmmaker was attached to myriad projects in that time, including a “Frankenstein” and “Beauty And The Beast” film that never happened. It’s also because del Toro spent/wasted nearly five years on two films he almost made: “The Hobbit,” which Peter Jackson eventually made (GDT bailed after nearly two years of development because financing took forever); and “At The Mountains Of Madness,” which Universal canceled at the last minute because they got cold feet about the R-Rating.
There was also “Pacific Rim 2,” which almost began shooting this fall, but it’s been pushed back to a date TBD. And it appears he’s getting a little bit tired of studio-made blockbusters that often don’t get green lit after years of struggle. In a recent podcast interview, del Toro suggested he would go make a smaller film instead. He said, “I feel compelled to do something small and weird, because I need a breather and a little bit more madness in my life.”
READ MORE: Watch 8-Minute Video Essay That Explores Guillermo Del Toro’s ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’
And though he’s hinted about a “strange,” small, black-and-white film in the past, he’s never really given out specifics. But The Guardian scored details in a recent interview and it sounds like he is indeed going weird and smaller-scale.
According to the U.K. publication, the movie is called “Silva,” [which is generally a Spanish surname] and is about a Mexican masked wrestler who discovers that all politicians are vampires. “‘Silva,’ which he sees as a black-and-white, low-budget project, was a casualty of the early termination of his film-making career in Mexico; his family fled the country for Toronto after his father was kidnapped and the family paid a ruinous ransom,” the Guardian wrote.
And given that he’s wasted so many years trying to get big Hollywood films off the ground and can’t seem to get “Hellboy 3” made (and who knows what will actually happen with “Pacific Rim 2”), del Toro sounds a little tired of the studio system.
“What I can tell you quite safely is, I don’t intend to keep on doing big, giant Hollywood movies for much longer,” he told The Guardian. “‘Crimson Peak’ is a great permit for me to work on a smaller scale. I mean, it’s big for a drama, but it’s a much smaller undertaking than ‘Pacific Rim’ or ‘Hellboy.’ I can’t say which ones, but I’ve been offered gigantic movies in the superhero genre, but I don’t like the superheroes that are… nice. I like the dark ones, so ‘Blade’ and ‘Hellboy’ were right for me. The mechanics of action only interest me when it’s a universe very, very close to my heart, which ‘Pacific Rim’ is, and I love it. I’m not going to pursue action movies or superhero movies at all any more. I hope I can go back to doing the smaller, weirder ones.”
Meanwhile, del Toro’s “Crimson Peak” opens in theaters next weekend, so we’ll find out more about his upcoming plans soon, we’re sure. In the meantime, del Toro offers a rare peek into the pair of houses where he keeps his epic collection of curiosities, wax figures, and creepy toys in this great little New York Times video.
