It looks like the final nail has been hammered into Guillermo Del Toro‘s adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft‘s novella At the Mountains of Madness. Del Toro’s passion project came a hair away from getting the greenlight, but Universal pulled the plug over an unwillingness to pay a blockbuster price tag for an R-rated movie. Del Toro moved on to direct the monster movie Pacific Rim (due out July 12, 2013), but there was always the hope that maybe ATMOM might live again. But now the brilliant director has said Ridley Scott‘s Prometheus has taken the wind out of the project.

Hit the jump more.

Speaking on the message boards of his official website, Del Toro Films (via Prometheus Forum), Del Toro laid out the sad news:

Prometheus started filming a while ago- right at the time we were in preproduction on PACIFIC RIM. The title itself gave me pause- knowing that ALIEN was heavily influenced by Lovecraft and his novella. This time, decades later with the budget and place Ridley Scott occupied, I assumed the greek metaphor alluded at the creation aspects of the HPL book. I believe I am right and if so, as a fan, I am delighted to see a new RS science fiction film, but this will probably mark a long pause -if not the demise- of ATMOM. The sad part is- I have been pursuing ATMOM for over a decade now- and, well, after Hellboy II two projects I dearly loved were not brought to fruition for me. The good part is: One project did… And I am loving it and grateful for the blessings I have received.

When pressed for more details on why Prometheus means no At the Mountains of Madness, Del Toro elaborated:

“Same premise. Scenes that would be almost identical. Both movies seem to share identical set pieces and the exact same BIG REVELATION (twist) at the end. I won’t spoil it,”

Regarding the “same premise”, both stories involve explorers coming into contact with a distant, ancient, and lethal civilization. I’ve read ATMOM, and judging by the trailers for Prometheus, it definitely sounds like the two stories could end the same way.

As always, Del Toro is a class act about the whole thing. If Prometheus is a smashing success, I wonder if Universal will have non-buyer’s remorse. As we confirmed yesterday, Fox was willing to accept an R-rating for Prometheus despite the large price tag. And keep in mind that while Prometheus has a terrific cast and Scott returning to the Alien universe, At the Mountains of Madness had Tom Cruise interested in starring and James Cameron on board to produce. At least Prometheus looks great, so hopefully we didn’t lose ATMOM to a mediocre flick.