Now that he’s tearfully packed his bags and departed the director’s job on The Hobbit, Guillermo del Toro’s slate is clear. Well, if you don’t count the hundreds of thousands of other projects he’s got vying for his consideration at a variety of studios around Hollywood and in at least one publishing house. So why shouldn’t he add one more? The answer? Of course he should! And according to Pajiba’s sources, he has::a[a new take on Van Helsing]{href='http://www.pajiba.com/trade_news/exclusive-guillermo-del-toro-tackles-van-helsing-no-its-not-a-remake.php' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'}.
Abraham Van Helsing, the driven Dutch doctor who hunted the titular vampire in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, has cropped up in almost as many bloodsucking stories as the toothy legend himself.
You might recall (unless you went to have the memory erased at Lacuna Inc, for which we would not blame you in the slightest) that one of the more recent takes on the character saw Hugh Jackman donning a big leather coat for Stephen Sommers’ film. That one... didn't turn out to be as fun as we thought, but we have higher hopes for something that boasts GDT as part of its creative background.
There’s no word yet on what sort of version del Toro is planning via his production company, since right now all we know is that it’ll be based on a treatment penned by the man himself. And given his loaded writing/directing schedule, we doubt he’ll actually make the thing himself. If he does, it’ll have to wait a while.
It’s not the first time that GDT has tackled a vampire hunter – his novel The Strain featured a character very much like Van Helsing, and let’s not forget that he brought the world Blade II. He knows his bloodsuckers. So, good idea? Time for a do-over? Or would you rather see the vampire hunter's grave left undisturbed?