Hobbiton Construction

TORN posted some great pictures of the work being done on Hobbiton. I asked GDT for some details and this is what he said:

Mata Mata is the place where HOBBITON is being constructed. I've been there and laid out a few new Hobbit holes but 99% we are just REPRODUCING what was there for the Trilogy. Its monitored every week from my office and then, as the work progresses Ill start travelling there.

Don't Be Afraid of DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK

It has been awfully quiet on the internet, on the DTF message boards especially, about Miramax's DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK. The film is set to be release in 2011 and stars Katie Holmes and Guy Pearce.

Oh yeah, and it is scripted by Guillermo Del Toro and Matthew Robbins (the writing team last collaborated on MIMIC (1997) - also a Miramax film).

This will be the first true GDT horror film since MIMIC that involves monsters in dark places. So why the lack of buzz?

Is it because it is just getting started? The actors are in Melbourne shooting as we speak...

Is it because GDT isn't directing? (the task belongs to unknown talent Troy Nixey)

Is it because tabloid maven Katie Holmes is a turn-off for some?

I'm not sure of the answer, but I do know this is something to get excited about.

If anyone has seen the original 1973 TV movie, let us know what we can expect!

Gentle Giant to produce PAN'S LABYRINTH Figures

You may recall that back in August 2007, we reported that NECA would be producing some PAN'S LABYRINTH figures. Since then, Gentle Giant has picked up the license and I am happy to say that we will finally be seeing a PALE MAN statuette in the fall of 2009. Check out this preview trailer below!






Also, here is a prototype for a Faun statuette that was on display at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con. Could we see this in 2009 as well?

Where do vampires come from?

Where do vampires come from?

I always thought a stork left them under a cabbage leaf or something. A very dark, evil cabbage leaf.

Ok, I don't really believe that - a dark, evil cabbage leaf is actually where Barney the Dinosaur comes from. (Ever see DEATH TO SMOOCHY? That movie was highly underrated. Check it out.)

Anyway, I saw another great quote from Guillermo today care of Duane Dudek of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - check it out:

Q. Where does the vampire myth stem from us culturally?
A. Back when we were tribally nomadic, I believe we were cannibalistic. And as we became social and sedentary, our collective memory was, how do we deal with the fact that we drank the blood of our enemies or ate their hearts? And so we tried to deal with a mythological creature to explain this.

You can read the full interview here.

Nice Quote from Guillermo

Saw this quote in an excellent GDT interview from THE INDEPENDENT, so I thought I would share:

"When mankind needed to eat and sleep as cavemen, we spent time making fire or finding water. We dealt with material things. But as soon as we wanted to figure out ourselves, we came up with angels and demons. We invented them to figure out ourselves. So I believe monsters are the key to understanding the universe. And I always try to write, and make movies where I play with that idea."

Picture of the Day - GDT Shopping at Weta Cave

I found this picture the other day. It makes me laugh. Its exactly how I picture Guilllermo when he goes shopping.

Guillermo Del Toro on Video Games

The internet is a buzz lately about Guillermo's desire to create the CITIZEN KANE of video games, as quoted in an excerpt from a recent WIRED magazine interview. In it, Guillermo said,

Wired: You're describing a model that's more like a videogame. Is the merger of movies and games the first step?

del Toro: Unfortunately, I've found in my videogame experience that the big companies are just as conservative as the studios. I was disappointed with the first Hellboy game. I'm very impressed with the sandbox of Grand Theft Auto. You can get lost in that world. But we're using it just to shoot people and run over old ladies. We could be doing so much more.

Wired: But these nonlinear, hybrid storytelling forms involve gaming tech, which could trap them in a geek ghetto. What's going to bring down that wall?

del Toro: Go back a couple of decades to the birth of the graphic novel—I think we can pinpoint the big bang to Will Eisner's A Contract With God. Today, we have very worthy people doing literary comics. I think the same thing will happen on the Internet-gaming side. In the next 10 years, there will be an earthshaking Citizen Kane of games.

Wired: Are you going to create it?

del Toro: I'll be trying to make it. But I won't be trying until after The Hobbit.

Guillermo has talked about this sort of thing before - he has always had an interest in video games and melding them with film and/or TV to create a complete multimedia experience. If you want to read a fantastic interview with Guillermo about video games, check out this August 2008 Q&A with EDGE MAGAZINE.

It briefly mentions GDT's first attempt to develop a video game, a failed project called SUNDOWN with Terminal Reality, which we reported on here at DTF briefly in 2006.