ONTD

Guillermo del Toro’s returns to the director’s chair after a five-year absence in this summer’ Pacific Rim, featuring Sons of Anarchy fan-favorite Charlie Hunnam in a starring role. The duo are currently planning a second collaboration, on a haunted house project title Crimson Peak which del Toro plans to make his next film).

We learned earlier this week that Emma Stone (Amazing Spider-Man) is closing a deal to play the female lead in Crimson Peak, with production slated to begin early next year Hunnam is presumably eying the (romantic?) foil to Stone’s character, in a story that del Toro describes as his first foray into horror since Mimic in 1997.

Specific plot details remain a secret, but del Toro has likene Crimson Peak o the old-school haunted house films that rely heavily on set design for atmosphere and used to be Hollywood’s bread-and butter (before the era of found-footage and polished remakes, that is). The filmmaker posted on his official message board back in December, revealing the project takes place at the turn of the century and explaining why he considers the project his first “scary” movie in a while:

Variety is confirming that Hunnam has entered negotiations to join Stone and del Toro on Crimson Peak, with a February 2014 start date planned (to allow del Toro time to first direct FX’s The Strain pilot). Meanwhile, del Toro is revising the script with Lucinda Coxon (The Heart of Me, The Crimson Petal and the White), working from a spec that he co-wrote with Matthew Robbins (Mimic, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark) shortly after completing Pan’s Labyrinth some 8-9 years ago now.

Hunnam has the perfect modern masculine presence (macho, yet vulnerable) that makes him leading man material, but his lack of experience is another reason wh Pacific Rim s among this year’s biggest financial gambles Crimson Peak as “insurance” in the form of newly-established A-lister Stone, should del Toro’s sci-fi blockbuster fail at projecting Hunnam to greater career heights. WB is hopeful for a Pacific Rim sequel and was considering Hunnam to play the new Tarzan; that’s to say, the tide’s moving in his favor right now.