Guillermo del Toro’s Fantastic Voyage remake to film next fall
It was over a year and a half ago that fan-fav director Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pacific Rim) signed on to direct 20th Century Fox and Lightstorm Entertainment’s long-gestating Fantastic Voyage remake. Now, Deadline is reporting that it will be del Toro’s next project after he completes work and promotion on his December 8 Fox Searchlight release, The Shape of Water. The original plan was to start production next spring for a holiday 2019 release, but with his Shape of Water commitments and potential award season activity, Fantastic Voyage will now restart its lengthy prep period in spring 2018 to begin production by fall 2018 at the latest, pushing the release to 2020.
Set to make use of the same 3D technology Cameron used for Avatar, Fantastic Voyage is about a scientist who is dying of a blood clot. His only chance for survival is for five scientist colleagues to be miniaturized in a ship called the Proteus, and injected into his bloodstream. The film is a remake of the 1966 original, directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Raquel Welch and Donald Pleasence.
The project would unite del Toro with his longtime friend James Cameron, and screenwriter David Goyer (Batman Begins, Man of Steel) who penned Blade II. Cameron, Jon Landau, and Rae Sanchini are producing with Goyer in line to executive produce.
A Fantastic Voyage remake has been in the depths of development hell for many years with a revolving door of potential directors (Roland Emmerich, Paul Greengrass, Shawn Levy), stars (Will Smith, Hugh Jackman) and screenwriters (Shane Salerno, Laeta Kalogridis, Marianne & Cormac Wibberley). Although not an official Fantastic Voyage remake, Joe Dante’s 1987 film Innerspace took a page or twelve from the original Fantastic Voyage in depicting a similar miniature trip through the human body.