Cinematical

Back in December, Guillermo del Toro was tapped to direct an adaptation of David Moody's novel, Hater. But as you well know, del Toro got a bit sidetracked recently by this whole Hobbit business. Now he's gearing up to head to New Zealand for four years, and that leaves Hater without a director.

A new writer hasn't been tapped yet, but a plan is in place. Variety has finally confirmed the project, originally announced by JoBlo, and del Toro is staying on as a producer of the film. He says: "I'll carry my weight on the creative side, in choosing elements and storyboarding, but it will be up to Mark and the director we choose to execute the day to day."

The story, which del Toro says "recognizes the reality that we live in, where it is incredibly easy to polarize, to hate for gender, race, age," details a sudden increase in terribly violent assaults. However, it's not by just one person -- "In seconds, rational, controlled people become vicious killers." It sounds like either a violent virus epidemic, or mass ghostly possession.

Whatever the case -- since the adaptation is not waiting for del Toro to wrap up his epic film, we should hear more soon.