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The Coffin Is Guillermo Del Toro & James Cameron's Unmade Take On Frankenstein
Guillermo del Toro nearly collaborated with James Cameron on a screen adaptation of the Frankenstein-like comic series The Coffin, but the film never came to pass. Today, the most infamous unrealized collaboration between these two legendary filmmakers is At the Mountains of Madness, a H.P. Lovecraft adaptation that would've finally seen the Cthulhu mythology given the grandiose film interpretation it has long deserved. However, a film version of The Coffin would've offered del Toro and Cameron a different but similarly unique story to adapt, and given them the chance to bring a gothic/sci-fi variation of the Frankenstein story to the big screen.
When it comes to genre filmmaking, del Toro and Cameron are arguably two of the most visionary directors working today. Guillermo del Toro's filmography is deeply rooted in dark fantasy and unique twists on science fiction and horror, with films like Blade 2, Hellboy and The Shape of Water often combining all three approaches. He's famously been attached to several unproduced projects over the years, including his take on The Hobbit. James Cameron's cinematic oeuvre includes some of the most high-concept and financially successful films of all time too, including Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Avatar.
Any collaboration between these two titans would likely be a genre-defining motion-picture event, and such an event nearly occurred over a decade ago when the two men teamed to make At the Mountains of Madness. When disagreements regarding the film's budget and rating reached an impasse with the studio, the project was canceled. However, long before the duo's Lovecraft opus was shelved, a del Toro/Cameron collaboration nearly occurred when both showed interest in adapting Phil Hester and Mike Huddleston's cult comic series, The Coffin.
Hitting shelves in 2001, The Coffin was a modern fusion of Frankenstein with steampunk aesthetics. The plot centers around a scientist named Dr. Ashtar Ahmad, who has invented a high-tech metal suit capable of trapping and preserving a human soul. Unfortunately, Ahmad's benefactor becomes paranoid the scientist will share his research and sends assassins to kill him. Before he can die, Ahmad successfully transplants his soul into the suit and sets out to fight the man who wanted him dead. According to a retrospective from Untold Horror, soon after its publication, The Coffin caught the eye of producer James Cameron, who optioned it for a screen adaptation via his Lightstorm Entertainment company.
Unsurprisingly for those familiar with his storytelling tastes, Guillermo del Toro was immediately interested in joining the project as writer/director. The then up-and-coming filmmaker was wrapping production on Blade 2 at the time, and although a script was submitted for The Coffin, the project soon entered development hell. While the film's failure to get made has never been fully explained, many believe that del Toro feared losing the opportunity to direct Hellboy and chose to pursue that dream project instead. 20 years later, Lightstorm Entertainment apparently retains the rights to adapt The Coffin, but it's unlikely that Guillermo del Toro and James Cameron will have the opportunity to team up and finally bring it to the big screen.
