3. At the Mountains of Madness
Poor Guillermo del Toro, what kind of Great Old One could he have annoyed in order to see himself twice on the list? This one is actually a big surprise, since it had everything to be Green Lighted. James Cameron was going to produce the film, the script was acclaimed by experts in H.P. Lovecraft's work, it would have Tom Cruise and Ron Perlman as the stars of the film, it would have been in 3D,, and they even went as far as having some screen tests and concept art made.
So, what happened? The studios who were interested in the script wanted to go further with most of the ideas by Guillermo and Cameron. All except one. Since the film was going to be R rated with a big budget, they wanted to make a lighter version of the film in order to get a PG-13 rating that would surely get them more money. Obviously, Del Toro and Cameron rejected the offer, since they had a clear vision of the film. The script went to several different studios and the demands were the same everywhere. Nobody was sure that an R rated film would perform well at the box office, so they decide to play safe and not be involved with the project. Guillermo del Toro hasn't given up on this project either, so maybe, just maybe this one might actually see the light of day, but it won't be anytime soon.