Guillermo Del Toro Says 'Crimson Peak' Is A Bronte-Esque "Gothic Romance With Ghosts"

After a torrid few years that have stalled Guillermo del Toro’s involvement with a number of projects, we’re positively ecstatic that things are looking up for one of cinema’s most affable filmmakers. After the well-documented troubles he went through on “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and with his mooted H.P. Lovecraft adaptation “At the Mountains of Madness,” the director‘s first feature since 2008 will arrive in theatres next July (that’s “Pacific Rim” by the way), and his next few projects seem to be falling into place. Del Toro explained earlier in the week that there was still some hope for “At the Mountains of Madness,” but after he finishes up his work on a TV adaptation of “The Strain,” he’ll be getting to work on “Crimson Peak.”

When the project was announced earlier in the week we heard very little from del Toro, other than he was pleased to be working with Warner Bros. and Legendary again on the feature length ghost story. Well, he’s been talking about it a little bit more on his message boards, and here’s what he had to say:

“CP [Crimson Peak] is not Hell House at all. CP is a spec script Matthew [Robbins ('Mimic')] and I wrote right after 'Pan’s Labyrinth.' It stayed mostly under the radar but I have been pushing it quietly. Universal have been very supportive and wanted to do it. It’s set at the turn of the century and it is a gothic romance with ghosts. When I use the GR [gothic romance] term I use it not in the Barbara Cartland model but rather in a Bronte fashion. Dark and stormy and wind-swept.

This is my first foray into horror since Sci-Fi/Horror 'Mimic.' DBB ['The Devil’s Backbone'] was more of an essay on ghosts than a ghost story and, except as a producer, I have not returned to scary stuff in a long time. Glad you guys are jazzed. So am I!!”

So there you have it. It’s a ghostly gothic romance, and GDT considers it a more direct horror movie than anything he’s done since "Mimic." We’re on board with just about everything we’ve heard about this project so far, so let’s hope that there are no stumbling blocks further down the line for the director as there so often seems to be. Production is slated to begin in early 2014.