Guillermo del Toro looks confirmed to direct Mountains of Madness, a Lovecraft epic in 3D. Although scheduled to direct Haunted Mansion, he said he would have a second project that would be ‘something scary’ – and a Lovecraft movie fits the bill.

This is heartening news for fans who were disappointed by Guillermo del Toro’s will he won’t he? approach to directing The Hobbit. Here’s a clue: He definitely won’t. Del Toro is staying well away from the furry-footed ones. The word on the casting floor is that Peter Jackson is 100% back on board to direct the Lord of The Rings prequel.

What’s more, Peter Jackson gets the official seal of approval from Guillermo del Toro, who told the fanboys at Comic.con: “Me, like any other geek, I really want to see Peter do the movie.”

Most sporting of you, Mister del Toro! We can’t wait to see what Peter Jackson does with The Hobbit, which is essentially a really slight children’s book. But we’re here to talk about Guillermo del Toro.

The plot for Mountains of Madness 3D

The film’s premise centres on a gruesome discovery made during a scientific expedition to the South Pole in the 1930s that hints at mankind’s true origin – elder gods from another world.

Mountains of madness 3D – Lovecraft’s legacy

So… What is this new project?

Mountains of Madness is a Cthulhu-fest; a horror mythos was dreamed up by old-fashioned buttoned-up horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft wasn’t adept at connecting with people (a little too close to his mother) and sought release with stories of ravenous ancient gods with an excess of sexytime tentacles. These gods – Cthulu, Nyarlathotep and other unholy creatures with far too many consonants in their names, because that makes them more unearthly and evil, okay – want nothing more than to consume our world and all within it.

If you read Lovecraft’s work, the Cthulhu mythos is filled with ‘unnameable horrors’ and ‘unspeakable geometries’. Essentially, it’s a bunch of monsters who are very big and exist in several dimensions so the way they look is hard to describe, let alone film. H.P. Lovecraft filled pages and pages of his books with attempts to describe them, pointing out that it was essentially impossible because the way they looked was so very, very unspeakable and unnameable.

Mountains of Madness 3D – A film-maker’s challenge

If Guillermo del Toro is set to direct the upcoming Mountains of Madness movie, that’s extremely good news for fans of both the curly-minded director and the Cthulhu mythos. Del Toro has, after all, previously come up trumps for SFX-laden fantasy and horror films. Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy 2 were unlikely blockbusters that scored with fans and critics alike.

If you’re looking for a film with monsters, props and set pieces so bizarre that even their creator can’t describe them, then Guillermo del Toro is the director for the job. Mountains of Madness should be safe in his hands. And the movie will be filmed in 3D, no less! 3D will be perfect for those impossible geometries.

What’s more, James Cameron is on board to produce. Apparently this sealed the deal to ensure the movie’s go-ahead.

We’re looking forward to it. A combination of Cameron’s slickness and Guillermo del Toro’s eccentric vision should make Mountains of Madness a horror movie that makes 3D films synonymous with quality.

Let’s hope this is one project Guillermo del Toro doesn’t back out of…