As Guillermo del Toro’s “At The Mountains Of Madness” gears up to shoot next year, names of lead actors to front the expensive, James Cameron-produced 3D film are beginning to surface and they couldn’t be more different.
Collider reports that Universal and del Toro are of different minds as to who should play the lead role of Dyer. Universal is apparently eying James McAvoy for the part while del Toro wants Tom Cruise. Del Toro’s choice isn’t as strange as it sounds. Earlier this year it was revealed that del Toro walked away from a gestating, Tom Cruise-produced “Van Helsing” movie to make “At The Mountains Of Madness” and it seems like the director isn’t yet ready to leave the actor behind.
Obviously, the actors represent two hugely different visions on where the film and character should go. Do you lead the film with a lesser known, but very much up-and-coming actor for a younger take on the role of Dyer or do you go with an A-list star who can guarantee international box office (even if domestically his name is a bit more of question mark) and make the hero a little older? It will certainly be interesting to see how this plays out.
With the film eying a May 2011 start, both actors would tentatively be free and clear do the film both having come off big franchise films; McAvoy with “X-Men: First Class” and Cruise with “Mission: Impossible 4.”
We’re sure del Toro fanboys won’t be happy to hear the director wants Cruise for the role, especially after an early review of the script reveals an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s book that is heavy on creatures and actions, but light on atmosphere. Cruise vs McAvoy: who would you pick?
