I really liked “The Strain,” the new vampire novel co-written by “The Hobbit” director Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. It’s smart, it’s very New York and it treats vampirism like a biological illness. Not necessarily a treatable one mind you, but it flips the vampire myth script on its head rather nicely.

The book is the first volume in a planned trilogy. It’s easy to see a del Toro movie franchise growing out of the idea, but that’s not what he has in mind for “The Strain.” In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the filmmaker describes what his hopes are for the story and where the idea came from. Read more…

It’s okay to be afraid of the dark, just don’t be afraid of “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark.” Particularly not when you’ve got an actor of Guy Pearce’s (”Memento”) caliber attached to the ticket.

The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop that Pearce will star in “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” a remake of a ’70s ABC telefilm about “a young girl who moves in with her father and his girlfriend and discovers they are sharing the house with demonic creatures.” Read more…

A couple weeks ago, I posted about Guillermo del Toro making some comments on two of his upcoming projects, “The Hobbit” and “Frankenstein.” Specifically, he commented on the participation of one Doug Jones, a frequent del Toro collaborator. He was the body of Abe Sapien in both “Hellboy” flicks (to David Hyde Pierce’s voice), Pan in “Pan’s Labyrinth” and a mutant cockroach-thing in “Mimic.”

In the older interview, del Toro revealed that Jones will play some unrevealed part in “The Hobbit,” prequel to Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and the title role of the monster in the director’s down-the-road adaptation of “Frankenstein.” Sci Fi Wire cornered Jones this past weekend, when he appeared at the Wizard’s World Philadelphia convention. The actor was happy to clarify some of del Toro’s revelations from his own perspective. Read more…

Guillermo del Toro hinted at all sorts of goodies when he visited the MTV offices last week. He didn’t crack open the vaults in a stunning tell-all, but he did reveal that he’s narrowed down his casting choice for “The Hobbit”’s Bilbo Baggins to one actor.

Oh what a difference a few days make. Del Toro, who is spending some time in London before trekking out to New Zealand for the “Hobbit” shoot, sat down with BBC Radio today and dished out some details [via Sci-Fi Squad]. We still don’t know who Bilbo will be, but del Toro did offer some revelations concerning “The Hobbit.” He also revealed that he’s found his “Frankenstein”. Read more…

Guillermo del Toro stopped by the office last week to chat with MTV’s Josh Horowitz about his new vampire novel, “The Strain,” co-written with Chuck Hogan. He’s such a cool, affable guy, del Toro. He also has no problems with “Twilight.” None at all. It may not be his thing, but his view of the teen-friendly franchise is that it is “perfectly legitimate.” See for yourself in the video below, or head over to MTV.com where you can view the entire MTV Rough Cut: Guillermo del Toro.

The journey of J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” to the big screen has taken yet another turn, MTV News has exclusively learned. For quite a while after Guillermo del Toro signed on to direct the adaptation, there had been talk that the project would actually consist of two films, one based fully on the source material and one so-called “bridge” film that would connect “Hobbit” to Peter Jackson’s “Lord Of The Rings” trilogy. Jackson and del Toro have since confirmed that “Hobbit” will simply be split up into two films.

So what of the “bridge” film? Guillermo del Toro has told MTV News that he has ruled out directing the project after his commitment to the two “Hobbit” films.

“I’m doing only two movies because I felt that that was the best way to service the book,” the director said. “I’m not saying the other notion was not discussed. We discussed it a large degree. But I felt that for me, the two films were the way to go.”
Read more…

In what’s becoming something of a tradition between MTV News and Guillermo del Toro, every time we have a chance to chat with the Mexican-born director, we harass him for news about who’s been cast as Bilbo Baggins in his upcoming adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit.” Last year, he said it was still too early to speculate about the man who would be Baggins. Then at Sundance in January, del Toro announced that he’d narrowed the search to just four actors. So when the director stopped by the MTV offices today to chat about his new vampire novel “The Strain,” everyone had to know the “Hobbit” question would rise again.

It did, and del Toro revealed that four possible Bilbos had now become one. “I believe we’re very close now to saying one name,” he said, adding that he expects to make an announcement in the next few weeks.

Check out the interview below to hear some additional details on del Toro’s casting decision and why he absolutely hates keeping secrets.

This Thursday, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro will be stopping by to chat with us on his upcoming book/movie project, “The Strain.” For those who don’t know about it — and if you like del Toro, then you should — “The Strain” is the first volume in a planned trilogy about… wait for it… vampires. Yeah, those blood-suckers are pretty popular. That first book actually hits shelves today, so make sure you pick yourself up a copy.

Okay, them’s the basics. Now here comes the fun part. Del Toro is stopping by on Thursday to promote “The Strain” of course, and we know you fans are burning with questions about that and some of his other projects. Well we want to know what those questions are. Submit your queries to tips@mtvmoviesblog.com and we’ll hit del Toro with the best of them.

Katie Holmes generally gets more press for being the wife of Tom Cruise than she does for her movie choices, but she may have finally landed on a role to regain her status as an actress. According to Variety, Holmes has signed on to star in “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” a horror remake co-scripted, produced, and mentored by Guillermo del Toro. His protege (and former comic book artist) Troy Nixey will direct this as his feature film debut.

The film is based on a 1973 ABC made-for-television movie. The original centered Sally and her husband Alex, who inherit a mansion from her deceased grandmother. Creepy things begin to happen once she uncovers a bricked up fireplace. Hideous little creatures begin to torment her, and her husband becomes convinced that she’s having a nervous breakdown. Read more…

Guillermo del Toro is keeping a tight lip on anything related to “The Hobbit” or “Hellboy III”, but during a recent interview with MTV News, he did offer updates on two of his big dream projects that are currently being shopped around.

“The movie that I would’ve loved to have made – and one day hope to make – is ‘The Count of Monte Cristo,’ del Toro said in an exclusive interview with MTV News. The screenplay, which may have the working title “The Left Hand of Darkness,” brings the Oscar-nominated trademark blend of the fantastic and horrific together in a re-imagination of Alexandre Dumas’s classic adventure novel.

“It’s a Gothic-Western retelling of ‘The Count of Monte Cristo,’ and I co-wrote it with [Kitt Carson] and Matthew Robbins around 1993 to 1998,” the director explained. “I wrote a lot of that during the kidnapping of my father, so it’s of a lot of rage.” Del Toro’s father was kidnapped in 1997 and held for 72 days before his family paid the requested ransom and he was returned. Read more…