EXCL: Del Toro Hates!

UPDATE – Variety is just getting around to confirming this story today, which we first reported back in December. Del Toro was set to direct but his HOBBIT deal has turned him into a producer. Del Toro says of the gig, “I’ll carry my weight on the creative side, in choosing elements and storyboarding, but…THE HOBBIT is a monumental task, and I don’t want to do anything that detracts from my attention to that.”

Guillermo Del Toro has set up a new movie at Universal which he will direct, entitled HATERS. The film will be based on the book ‘Hater’ by David Moody, author of the ‘August’ series. Here’s the skinny: Society is rocked by a sudden increase in the number of violent assaults on individuals. Christened ‘Haters’ by the media, the attackers strike without warning. Their attacks are brutal, remorseless and extreme. There are no apparent links between the Haters or their victims and no obvious reason for their violence. In seconds rational, controlled people become vicious killers. Everyone – irrespective of race, gender, age, sexuality or any other imaginable difference – has the potential to become either a Hater or a victim. This is a terror which knows no boundaries. You can no longer trust anyone, no matter how well you think you know them. You can no longer trust yourself. By the end of today you could be a killer. By the end of today you could be dead. Psychos? Check. Blood? Check. Sounds like a perfect Del Toro vehicle, no? As we know, the next feast of awesome he will be serving up will be the much-anticipated (by me at least) sequel to HELLBOY; THE GOLDEN ARMY. Pretty much everything this guy does lately is way bad ass, so there’s no reason to think this thing won’t be.