Guillermo Del Toro updates on PACIFIC RIM 2, HELLBOY 3, & THE HAUNTED MANSION

Guillermo Del Toro gives update on Pacific Rim 2, Hellboy 3, and The Haunted Mansion. Guillermo Del Toro is one of those recent directors that are so hot, that they have millions of ideas that they want to make, but only have time to do it one by one. Del Toro was present to the Television Critics Association for his FX series, The Strain, but instead of talking about his show, he was mostly answering about what’s going on with his movies.

First, and what everybody wants to know, is regarding who’s coming back for the sequel of his hit 2013 film, Pacific Rim: Maelstrom, which is due for a 2017 release. He didn’t reveal a lot, but he did say “…everybody or most everybody that survived is back. The rest we killed. We killed half the cast.” This would lead to a good sign that Charlie Day and Burn Gorman will return as the kaiju-obsessed doctors, while Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi will come back to pilot those giant robots everyone loves since The Iron Giant.

Second, is regarding the third installment of the Hellboy films, which even Ron Perlman, who played Hellboy in the previous films, also demanded a conclusion to the franchise for the sake of the fans. Del Toro did discuss that the films were gigantic hits on Blu-Ray and DVD, but unfortunately, times have change and that market is kind of over. “The numbers on the Hellboys made a lot of sense because of video. Hellboy II exists not because a studio head said. ‘I’m a big fan.’ The first one made money, made much more money on the Blu-ray and DVD than it did theatrically. It made money. Now that market is done.” Even with digital streaming, he said that the platform will change again by the time Hellboy would reach the numbers that would sound convincing for a 3^rd movie.

Finally, he discussed the long-awaited reboot of The Haunted Mansion, based on the classic 1969 Disney attraction. He has announced it all the way back at the 2010 San-Diego Comic Con, but not much has happened since. The only progress that we know of is that Del Toro managed to get Ryan Gosling to star in the film. In fact, the movie is taking so long to make, The Hatbox Ghost managed to find the time to return to the ride after 46 years in the Disney Vault. However, even today, not much is going on with the movie. “All you can do is develop the screenplays, send them in, get a reaction, get the budget, agree or disagree on budget and so forth. Every project goes through the same thing… I have to have these projects alive to hope and pray that one of them happen.”

From the sound of it, neither Hellboy 3 nor The Haunted Mansion reboot will be made anytime soon. However, to end this on a positive note, that doesn’t mean they won’t ever get made. Maybe someday, in five years or so, Guillermo will give us the answer to how Hellboy will be in the end or he’ll give the 999 spirits and ghosts a better film that than the 2003 film that invited their 1000^th ghost, the spirit of Eddie Murphy’s career.

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