Sci-Fi Storm

It appears that the Guillermo del Toro-led remake of 1966’s sci-fi classic Fantastic Voyage is getting pushed back about a year, to allow time for del Toro to deal with the release of The Shape of Water, which is coming out December 8th in time for Oscar season.

Deadline reports that Fox and Lightstorm Entertainment are willing to push full development of the film until next Spring, to allow del Toro to be able to fully concentrate on the development before they start spending money on set production, etc. Given the original timeline was to start dull production in the Spring for a late 2019 release, but this would probably push filming until the Fall, and a release sometime in 2020.

One of the early announcements from Comic-Con is that Guillermo del Toro, who recently left The Hobbit due to the constant delays, is making a new, scary version of Haunted Mansion for Disney, based on the park attraction – of which del Toro is a fan. There will be no connection to the previous version (an Eddie Murphy comedy vehicle), but it promises to be REAL scary. “It’s going to be a thrill ride for the whole family but it’s definitely going to be scary,” he said. “(Walt) Disney is one of the creators of some of the scariest images in my childhood. People forget that he not only made sweet images but also images of nightmare. We need to honor that side of the legacy.” Why would he leave The Hobbit (a potential gold mine, but in stuck in bankruptcy with MGM) for this? Well, it wasn’t just this movie but several projects that were in “deep freeze”, but this one he believes will need special attention and a long development cycle to do right. Hear hear…someone who won’t just stamp out something and depend on the name…