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Guillermo del Toro’s unmade projects<\/a> are the stuff of legends. From a “Justice League Dark” movie to a remake of “Fantastic Voyage” and even a “Wind in the Willows” adaptation for Disney (one that he bailed on after the studio\u00a0asked that he give the Toad character a skateboard and have him say “radical dude” things \u2014 good call, Guillermo!), the list of films del Toro hasn’t made is almost as audacious as the one he has. And at the top of that index? Without question, his take on H.P. Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness.”<\/p>\n To quickly recap, Lovecraft’s original sci-fi horror novella (which was published in 1936) centers on a group of explorers who find the remains of an ancient civilization in Antarctica. In doing so, however, they also learn the dark truth about humanity’s origins, bringing them face to face with unfathomable horrors from beyond our world. In addition to being highly influential, “At the Mountains of Madness” features many of the things del Toro does best as a storyteller (monsters; grisly, bizarro horror; an in-depth look at the often messy relationship between creators and their creations). Hence, when he revealed he was adapting it into a big-budget tentpole in 2010, his fans broke out into squeals of joy.<\/p>\n Alas, it was too good to be true, and the project was ultimately canceled. Why? It didn’t help that Ridley Scott’s “Alien” prequel, “Prometheus,” came together around the same time<\/a>, with the pair having a lot in common. But there are other reasons the film hasn’t been revived since then. As del Toro told Inverse<\/a>, it’s a “complicated movie” and a difficult sell to mainstream audiences, what with its bleak subject matter and decidedly unhappy ending. More importantly, he’s not sure he even wants to make it anymore.<\/p>\n