Guillermo del Toro Gives Details on His Black and White Indie Film

Last summer, Guillermo del Toro teased a small, black and white indie film project that he wanted to film earlier this year before heading into production on Pacific Rim 2. That didn’t happen, and Pacific Rim 2 has been delayed until who-knows-when, which leaves del Toro free to pursue that smaller project next. He just might, and in a new interview he’s finally dropped some details about the film, which will be much smaller than his recent studio films.

Pacific Rim 2 may or may not still happen (though from what we’ve been hearing, Legendary has no interest in it for the time being), but that’s not entirely a bad thing. Del Toro always has a few projects kicking around, including his long-developing Haunted Mansion passion project and the mysterious black and white indie flick he first announced last July.

In a new interview with The Guardian, del Toro opens up about that indie project, which is called Silva and is about a Luchador who discovers that all politicians are vampires — a hardly subtle metaphor:

‘Silva,’ which he sees as a black-and-white, low-budget project, was a casualty of the early termination of his film-making career in Mexico; his family fled the country for Toronto after his father was kidnapped and the family paid a ruinous ransom.

Del Toro is no stranger to vampire genre narratives: he directed Blade II and Cronos, and executive produces the FX series The Strain, based on books he co-wrote with Chuck Hogan.

Silva definitely sounds right in his wheelhouse, and it would give del Toro a nice respite from the studio system, which has caused him a few headaches over the years. As you may recall, del Toro was going to direct The Hobbit before studio issues caused him to step down, and his At the Mountains of Madness project was canned by Universal when the studio became hesitant about the R-rated material — and yet they’re the same studio behind the release of his R-rated Crimson Peak, which is a little confusing.

Del Toro was attached to Warner Bros.’ Justice League Dark movie, but recently left the project. He goes on to explain that he’s drawn to the darker comic book characters, but has no interest in directing a big budget superhero or action film — he actually wants to get away from directing big studio movies in general:

What I can tell you quite safely is, I don’t intend to keep on doing big, giant Hollywood movies for much longe. ‘Crimson Peak’ is a great permit for me to work on a smaller scale. I mean, it’s big for a drama, but it’s a much smaller undertaking than ‘Pacific Rim’ or ‘Hellboy.’ I can’t say which ones, but I’ve been offered gigantic movies in the superhero genre, but I don’t like the superheroes that are… nice. I like the dark ones, so ‘Blade’ and ‘Hellboy’ were right for me. The mechanics of action only interest me when it’s a universe very, very close to my heart, which ‘Pacific Rim’ is, and I love it. I’m not going to pursue action movies or superhero movies at all any more. I hope I can go back to doing the smaller, weirder ones.

That move might be for the best, as del Toro’s bigger, more ambitious studio projects are often developing for years and often struggle to get off the ground — if they ever do. Indie films offer del Toro the freedom to explore some of his weirder inclinations without interference or concerns over budget and rating.

Whatever he does next, whether it’s The Haunted Mansion or Silva or Pacific Rim 2, we’re excited to experience it.

For now, we have Crimson Peak to look forward to, which hits theaters on October 16.