After making weekly visits to DreamWorks Animation throughout the summer, Guillermo del Toro has decided to set up shop at the studio, where he will write and direct a feature film tentatively titled "Trollhunters," according to the Hollywood Reporter.
According to del Toro, the story "essentially combines fairy tales with modern times, and is about how difficult it is to be a kid. It's thematically fitting with the rest of my stuff," said the Oscar-nominated "Pan's Labyrinth" filmmaker.
The project is based on a young-adult book that del Toro submitted to publisher Hyperion about two weeks ago. He plans to finish the script before he begins production on Universal's "At the Mountains of Madness," an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's horror novella.
DWA has also enlisted del Toro as a consultant and executive producer on several of the projects that the studio has in development, including "Kung Fu Panda 2" and "Puss in Boots." Prior to making the deal, del Toro agreed to help DWA with the editing and structure of its upcoming release "Megamind," which opens Nov. 5.
Del Toro's frequent collaborator, cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, pushed him toward DWA, where Navarro served as a cinematography consultant on the "Madagascar" movies. Del Toro agreed to meet with DWA CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg because he admired the risks the studio took with "How to Train Your Dragon."
Del Toro likes working in animation because it's a "more malleable" medium than live-action, and prefer to view his role as an adviser on animated movies as part of his cinematic education.
Additionally, Pajiba reports that del Toro will produce the action drama "Midnight Delivery" for Universal, where he has a first-look deal.
Based on an original idea by del Toro, the story concerns a father who becomes a drug mule to save his son's life.
Neil Cross ("MI:5") will write the screenplay and Gary Ungar will exec produce, while Scott Bernstein will oversee the project for the studio.
Del Toro is also working with the studio on remakes of "Frankenstein," "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and "Slaughterhouse-Five," as well as an adaptation of Dan Simmons' novel "Drood."
He's also developing a "Haunted Mansion" movie at Disney, an English-language remake of "The Orphanage," a stop-motion animated take on "Pinocchio" and "Crimson Peak," a gothic action-romance in the vein of "The Others" that he co-wrote with his "Mimic" collaborator Matthew Robbins.
Del Toro recently abandoned the director's chair of "The Hobbit," though he remains onboard as a writer and producer.
He's represented by WME and Exile Entertainment.
