We were all pretty happy when Guillermo del Toro came to his wits and let Peter Jackson direct The Hobbit films. Then we were even happier when he announced he will direct his passion project, and adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft‘s At The Mountains of Madness. Now, Collider is reporting on two potential leads.
Their sources say Universal would like James McAvoy (Wanted, Atonement) for a lead and that Guillermo del Toro would like Tom Cruise to star. There was also a rumor of Chris Pine as lead, but he has an intense schedule. They would be stepping into the shoes of William Dyer. Check out the synopsis below.
The story is written in first-person perspective by the geologist William Dyer, a professor from Miskatonic University. He writes to disclose hitherto unknown and closely kept secrets in the hope that he can deter a planned and much publicized scientific expedition to Antarctica. On a previous expedition there, a party of scholars from Miskatonic University, led by Dyer, discovered fantastic and horrific ruins and a dangerous secret beyond a range of mountains taller than the Himalayas.
Executive producer James Cameron recently commented that the film will be “epically scaled horror” along the line of Aliens. I loved Cruise (for his comedy) in the recent Knight and Day, but it may be hard buying him in a epic horror film. I’d like to see McAvoy take on something like this, but I have faith in del Toro.
Filming doesn’t began for another year, so these two busy men (with MI:4, X-Men: First Class, Tropic Thunder spin-off, etc.) should have enough time to free up their schedule for what I would assume to be a grueling shoot.
Who would you like to see lead Mountains of Madness?