Guillermo Del Toro Sets A Trip Down NIGHTMARE ALLEY

Guillermo del Toro is notorious for setting multiple projects and then dropping out of almost all of them, so whenever we report on a potentially new GDT jam, there's a 50/50 shot we acutally see the finished product (just look to his departure from Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark for the most recent example of this trend). 

That said, del Toro's announced a remake of Nightmare Alley - the '47 film noir/carny romp - has been added to his slate. He'll co-write the movie with the tremendous Kim Morgan (whose criticism is essential reading for any cinephile), with hopes of helming it (though since the script's not written yet, sources indicate this will probably not be his next directing gig). 

For those unfamiliar with Nightmare Alley (which I suppose many of you are), the original movie revolves around "an ambitious young con-man who hooks up with a female psychiatrist who is even more corrupt than he is. At first, they enjoy success fleecing people with their mentalist act, but then she turns the table on him, out-manipulating the manipulator."

GDT will also be producing Scott Cooper's next directorial effort. Cooper has the Searchers riff Hostiles coming out later this month, starring Christian Bale, which has been getting a good deal of solid buzz. The supernatural thriller he'll direct for GDT will be a new direction for the Crazy Heart helmer's career. Titled Antlers, the movie follows "a young teacher who discovers that her troubled student’s father and younger brother harbor a deadly supernatural secret." Spooky. 

New Guillermo is never a bad thing, but new Scott Cooper is never really a good thing (as he's arguably one of the most boring studio directors currently working), so let's count this news as win/lose, with the knowledge that GDT may never actually step behind the camera for Nightmare Alley at all. Now, I've just psyched myself out completely. Happy Monday.