Guillermo del Toro to start shooting At The Mountains Of Madness in 2011?

You can probably count the number of genuinely great HP Lovecraft adaptations on one hand (or one tentacle, if your name's Cthulhu). In fact, aside from Stuart Gordon's classic Re-Animator, and his rather less brilliant From Beyond, I can't think of a single film that has successfully captured the spirit of the writer's florid, doom-laden prose.

If there's one mainstream director capable of faithfully adapting a Lovecraft story, it's Guillermo del Toro, whose twisted imagination and obvious love for the author's work makes him the perfect fit. Del Toro has been talking enthusiastically about directing an adaptation of one of Lovecraft's most well known stories, At The Mountains Of Madness, for some time, and it was suggested back in July that James Cameron would be stepping in as producer.

According to a news story over on SlashFilm, del Toro has been in meetings with men in suits at Universal, in which he showed off his concept designs and miniature monsters, and now hopes to start shooting the movie in June next year.

As a fan of Lovecraft, and At The Mountains Of Madness, in particular, with its brilliantly balanced infusion of science fiction and chilly horror, this is the best possible news. The presence of Cameron should mean that the project will get the budget it deserves (the epic sweep of its source material will require dozens of effects shots), while del Toro's knowledge and respect for Lovecraft's work could make this a truly great adaptation.

At The Mountains Of Madness represents a considerable risk for both del Toro and Cameron, of course, though the prospect of failure doesn't appear to faze the director. "I'm putting all the chips I have accumulated in 20 years as a director, betting them on a single number," del Toro told Slash Film. "This is not just a movie and then move on to the next. It's do or die time for me."

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