Updated Again:

Oh, how apt my opening paragraph is. Criterion Cast emailed Del Toro, and he responded in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. At the Mountains of Madness is dead. Dead. Dead.

So will Pacific Rim be a go? We’ll see. Original story below.

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Sometimes you have to wait until the dust settles before you can even post the news.

Earlier today, our beloved Renn brought you news that In the Mountains of Madness had a start date of June. Then it didn’t.

Now it may not happen at all. Or it might. We don’t know!

Deadline is reporting that Del Toro is seriously considering directing Pacific Rim for Legendary Pictures instead of Mountains for Universal.  Universal is balking at the budget costs for Mountains, which is frustrating Del Toro, who has seen his dream project delayed again and again. Ain’t It Cool News reports the real issue isn’t the budget, but the R rating, though it’s undoubtedly a combination of the two.  Studios don’t like dumping lots of money on an R in the best of times, but certainly not these tried-and-true days.

This story has actually surfaced before. Latino Review reported Del Toro was offered Pacific Rim last October. The project really has Del Toro written all over it as it’s set “set in a future in which malevolent creatures threaten the earth, the planet must band together and use highly advanced technology to eradicate the growing menace.”    The story was later denied, though LR stuck by it, and can now laugh at the rest of the Internet.

We’ll see how this shakes out, and what Del Toro actually signs to. You have to feel for the guy, though.  If he walks off Mountain, it will be the second high profile project he’s lost in as many years.  Will no one give the guy a big budget and a backlot to shoot it on?