Guillermo Del Toro Stop-Motioning Some Witches?

We mentioned a few weeks ago that Guillermo del Toro was planning a full-length stop-motion film, and it looks like we may have the first details about that project. First, some background: A couple years back, it was reported that Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron were planning a collaborative adaptation of Road Dahl's "The Witches," with del Toro scripting and Cuaron possibly directing. The Dahl story was first adapted into a film in 1990 by Nicolas Roeg, starring Anjelica Huston. That version seemed to have been pretty well-received, although it did change bits of the story to make it more family-friendly, so a Cuaron-del Toro team up for a redo seemed like it had room to grow its own legs. But then, we didn't hear anything again for some time.

Now, Empire has scored a chat with Cuaron and broken the news that not only is the project still alive and well, but that del Toro has in fact already written a script and will be taking on directing duties. Cuaron will produce, and the article seems to imply that the newer take will be darker and more faithful to the original than Roeg's 1990 version. And all of it will be in glorious stop-motion animation! Can't wait to see how this one turns out, though who knows how long it will be until we see it given the sheer number of projects del Toro has taken on as of late. I was a big Roald Dahl fan as a kid, and was among those shocked (though not entirely unpleasantly) to learn of his much more graphic catalog of work geared towards adults. The Witches seems like one of those works that straddle a middle ground; it'll be interesting to see how it's brought to life.

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Christopher McQuarrie Teams With UA, Del Toro

United Artists has signed Christopher McQuarrie, the Oscar-winning writer behind The Usual Suspects and the upcoming Valkyrie, for two upcoming projects. The first is The Champions, based on a 1960's British sci-fi TV show that follows three secret agents who are granted super powers after encountering an advanced civilization. Guillermo del Toro is helping with writing duties and will co-produce alongside McQuarrie, though no director is yet attached.

The second project is The Monster Of Florence, based on the best-selling book of the same name by author Douglas Preston and Italian journalist Mario Spezi. The book tells the true story of Preston and Spezi's investigation into a series of grisly unsolved murders that occurred in Italy from 1968 to 1985. Their investigation spins out of control when the two are implicated for obstruction of justice and Spezi is even named as a suspect for being the titular "Monster" himself. Tom Cruise, who stars in Valkyrie and is a co-owner of UA, may play one of the two leads.

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Pinocchio Coming Alive With Gris Grimly And Guillermo Del Toro

Bloody-Disgusting reports that Guillermo del Toro is producing a stop-motion animated re-telling of Pinocchio, based on the 2002 Gris Grimly book. Grimly will serve as co-director with Adam Parrish King, who won a short filmmaking award at Sundance back in 2006. Grimly's version is said to be a darker and spookier take on the material. The story will find Pinocchio being magicked into a real child as in the original, but will have the titular character turn out to be a mischievous and devious little boy, playing mean tricks and being more or less evil until he eventually learns the value of being good. Del Toro does warn that the project is still very early on in its development, with the screenplay being worked on right now. The technical challenges of bringing the story to life would mean we wouldn't see this movie for at least a few more years.

The Jim Henson Company has been tapped to help make the film. Readers will remember them as the creators of The Muppets as well as the minds behind movies such as The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. Recently, they helped put on the Dracula musical seen in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and earlier this year we heard that Nick Stoller and Jason Segal have since been hired by Disney to write and direct the next Muppets movie.

The stop-motion puppeteering seen at the beginning of Hellboy II was pretty phenomenal, so I'm excited to see Del Toro return to the format, albeit in a producer's capacity. Still, the article does mention that Del Toro is planning a full-length stop-motion animated film of his own in the future, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that that project comes to fruition.

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