Guillermo del Toro is one of the most talented and visionary directors and storytellers working today. He also happens to be a massive geek, just like you or I. This is exactly why most geeks have “hug Guillermo del Toro” somewhere on their bucket lists.
One of the forms of entertainment that del Toro is a big fan of, as many of us are, is video games. And one of his favorite games is the ultra-popular Valve Software puzzler Portal.
This became blatantly obvious when we finally got our eyes on the first trailer for del Toro’s overwhelmingly massive giant robots vs. giant monsters movie, Pacific Rim, in which the voice of the equally popular Portal villain GlaDOS can be heard.
In an interview with the Toronto Sun, del Toro talked about being a big fan of the game, and going to GlaDOS voice actor Ellen McLain for the movie:
“I wanted very much to have her, because I’m a big Portal fan. But just as a wink. She’s not cake-obsessed. She’s not out to destroy humanity.”
The director then went to Valve to make sure it was okay if he used the voice as a nod to their game, and everyone there was on board with the idea.
But while the GlaDOS we heard in the trailer is identical to the one in the game, don’t expect it to be that distinct in the final film.
Del Toro added:
“The filter we’re using is slightly less GLaDOS. Slightly. The one in the trailer I wanted to be full-on GlaDOS.”
While on the topic of video games, del Toro also took a moment to update the status of his own game, inSANE. The game was recently dumped by THQ, and we did hear word that a new developer may have quickly been found.
We still don’t know who that developer may be, but del Toro reaffirmed that they are in talks with someone big:
“We are in talks with a very, very big company. I can’t say who, but it’s one of the big ones. They really responded to the game, they responded to what we were trying.
Some of the devices of the game I need to update, because now I’ve seen them in other games that just came out. That always happens. But the principle we’re trying to do with the game is to make it a really immersive narrative experience. It’s still a really challenging proposal.”
Pacific Rim is set to arrive in theaters on July 12th.
What do you think of GlaDOS making her film debut? Are you glad del Toro is scaling her voice back a bit for the final film, or would you rather it was full GlaDOS for the full movie?
[Source: Toronto Sun via Game Informer]
