San Diego Comic-Con 2010: Guillermo del Toro and Troy Nixey Talk Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark; See the Trailer and More!
Heather Wixson
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They say in Hollywood there are no sure bets. For this writer, I beg to differ because my sure bet is always writer/producer/director Guillermo del Toro. When I heard that del Toro would be attending the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con to promote the latest project he’s producing, the Troy Nixey-helmed Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, I knew I had to be front and center to get the lowdown on this supernatural thriller.
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is the first feature film for Nixey, whose previous work includes the 2007 short film Latchkey’s Lament, and the first-time director was pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with producers del Toro and Mark Johnson (The Chronicles of Narnia).
“When I first started working on my short, I would send over stills and materials to Guillermo to get feedback, and he was always very encouraging,” said Nixey. “The short took five years to finish, and when it was finished, Guillermo was doing preparation for Hellboy 2. He took the time to actually watch the short while he was up to his neck in his own work.”
“Based on that short he called me to tell me that he had a script called Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark that he co-wrote with Matthew Robbins and asked if I would be interested in directing the project. I was stunned. Guillermo is one of my directing idols so all of this is very exciting and surreal for me,” Nixey added.
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is del Toro and Robbins’ reimagining of the 1973 tele-series of the same name. For this contemporary version the story centers around Sally Hurst (Bailee Madison), a lonely, withdrawn child who has just arrived in Rhode Island to live with her father, Alex (Guy Pearce), and his new girlfriend, Kim (Katie Holmes), at the 19th century mansion they are restoring.
While exploring the sprawling estate, the young girl discovers a hidden basement, undisturbed since the strange disappearance of the mansion’s builder a century ago. When Sally unwittingly lets loose a race of ancient, dark-dwelling creatures who conspire to drag her down into the mysterious house’s bottomless depths, she must convince Alex and Kim that it’s not a fantasy — before the evil lurking in the dark consumes them all.
Del Toro, who is the modern-day master of spine-tingling storytelling, credits Miramax as the reason Don’t Be Afraid of The Dark will deliver more thrills and chills to audiences than both he and Nixey thought would be possible after the film was finally assembled.
“We were always aiming for a PG-13 rating for this film, but once we got our R rating back from the MPAA, I told Troy to not change a single thing and let’s see what the studio says first before we start making cuts,” explained del Toro. “Imagine my surprise when Miramax said they didn’t want us to change a single thing and that we should move forward with the R rating. And I can tell you, it’s a well-deserved R, too.”
Let’s hope so! For more from del Toro and Nixey, check out the press conference video coverage below.
Since del Toro is one of the more engaging people working in the industry these days, Dread Central has also cooked up a few extra videos for fans: The first bonus video is del Toro discussing the filmmaking process, the second is del Toro’s thoughts on 3D movies, and the last video is loaded with all sorts of creepy fun as del Toro talks about fear and his own experiences ghost hunting while he was in London shooting Hellboy 2.
Along with all that we also have the official trailer for Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark below courtesy of MySpace.
Guillermo del Toro – Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
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Guillermo del Toro – Making Movies
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Guillermo del Toro – Working in 3D
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Guillermo del Toro – Fear and Ghosts
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Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark in HD
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