Visionary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is not one to rest, apparently.  The man who has directed both Hellboy films and the critically hailed El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth) among others, has recently inked a deal with Universal that will see him both producing and directing with the studio through the year…2017!  There may not be time in between his hectic schedule for bathroom breaks.  The Mexican born del Toro will have his hands in all sorts of pies, hands I said, not like Jason Biggs (RIP) in American Pie, for the next decade to be sure.  In addition to the vast slate of films he has his creative fingers on below, he also will be adding author or novelist to his resume as he plans on penning a vampire trilogy of books with crime novelist Chuck Hogan.  No rest for the weary-eyed, amigo.  Hopefully he doesn’t turn into one of the undead himself with all this work.  Here is a list of projects he has lined up at this point.  Thanks to Fade In magazine for the information.

The Hobbit

This is of course, the most anticipated series of films that del Toro has his hands on.  He will personally be writing and directing both of the two movies of the prequel to the massive Lord of the Rings hits (films are slated for 2012 at this point).  Many of the same members that brought those three films to life will be on board here as well.  Peter Jackson will will help write and produce and Andy Serkis (Gollum) and Sir Ian McKellan are expected to be starring in the films.  The Bilbo Baggins tale will undoubtedly rake it in at the box office.  It is looked at as one of the few non-Will Smith starring films that is a guaranteed cash cow.  Like Capadonna said, “Milk This Cow, the best way we know how.”  Del Toro and company will.

Death And Me

Guillermo loves dealing with dark and fantastical themes.  This is no exception.  It is a film centered around a female Grim Reaper (flipping the tables on Meet Joe Black).  Del Toro is an executive producer on this one.  Apparently the rumor mill has Shia LeBeouf as a possible male lead.  I don’t think he will dress up as a female and pull a Jude Law.

If u want to hammer this, please don't tell us.

Rudo Y Cursi

We mentioned this film in a bit more detail earlier in a post here since the movie premiered at Sundance just a few weeks ago.  Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna are soccer players who fight with their situations and each other in the pro soccer world.  I only woner if Pele or Kaka makes an appearance.  Hopefully when they score a goal they run around the field for 5 minutes sliding on the pitch, pointing to the stands and taking their shirt off…oh, I apologize for my AC Milan flashback.  Del Toro and his two partners, Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu (Babel) and Alfonso Cauron (Children Of Men) form the three amigo trilogy and it’s their first film released under their 5 picture deal inked last year.  Cha Cha Cha is the name of the company and also a cool restaurant in San Francisco.  Gotta try their Sangria!

Cursi curses at Rudo. Or the other way around.

Hater

“Hi haters, I’m back off hi-atus, I feel just like you, I mean, even I, hate us.” – Kanye.  No, it’s not the hip-hop drama that it sounds like, but instead del Toro produces the adaptation of a David Moody novel about a ridiculous amount of violence that is plaguing society.  One of the writers of TV’s The Shield will script, so we can expect no punched pulled and some in-your face visuals I would suspect.  Still most about this product is shrouded in mystery as is the societal violence in the film.  We’ll let you know more as we do.

Deadman

I said Guillermo loved the death theme, right?  And it continues, with Deadman, a DC comics adaptation.  yes, it’s from the same company that brought you Batman.  With comics being the hot property that they are, we should see this coming to screen.  It follows Boston Brand, a trapeze artist killed by a vigilante known as The Hook.  Not to be confused with Disney’s Hook though.  Brand’s superpower is that he can inhabit anyone with the hope of enacting justice.  Sounds a bit strange but still with comics being the gold standard right now, it will happen in time.  This is one of few projects that IMDB does not have info on right now, so we’ll see.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

Del Toro will produce and co-write the script of the re-make of the made for TV movie that hit the small box back in 1973.  It was supposedly a scary watch, so we’ll see if yet another in the wave of current re-duxes can duplicate or hopefully elevate on the success of what the first did.  In Del Toro most trust, so at least it sounds like it’s in reasonable hands.  The OG VHS cover kinda freaks me out.  I might not sleep well tonight.

Mother And Child

Mel Gibson hollers “You’re my child!” at a young Heath Ledger in The Patriot from a few years back.  Hopefully, this will not have such a grandiose verbal scene.  This is a smaller movie that Cha Cha Cha will again be bringing to the screen.  Rodrigo Garcia, HBO’s In Treatment show writer will both direct and write here, so at least there appears to be some lineage of strength here.  This follows three women with what sounds to be intersecting storylines along the lines of what you have seen in Amores Perros or Pulp Fiction.  We can only hope that this contains any of the beauty of those two films and it won’t go down into the hole like that dog from Amores Perros did.

Champions

Finally, we see Guillermo direct again (I guess since he is tied up for 4 years or so with Hobbit it is excusable), helming this movie with a supernatural tilt to it. This one’s about three (3) United Nations spies who survive a plane crash and are abducted by a group that give them superhuman powers.  Wonder Twin powers, activate! This should have del Toro in his creative element as he is so in love with fantasy and so successful in the genre. As long as he doesn’t add a “We Are The” to the title, it could be good. We probably can’t expect this one ’til late in this decade of contracts and projects he is tied up in, so consider this one of your first knowledge droppings on the matter.

I said the man was busy, and I didn’t lie. What do you think, any of these interest you? Let us know.