Guillermo del Toro is ready to shoot ‘Crimson Peak’.

With Pacific Rim, Guillermo del Toro’s giant robots and monsters extravaganza, hitting theaters a week from today, Del Toro is ready to put down his big guns  and return to his roots. His next project, Crimson Peak, will be a good old fashioned haunted house horror flick.

Jessica Chastain

Del Toro has become something of a star magnet. After scoring Charlie Hunnam and Idris Elba for Pacific Rim,Crimson Peak boasts Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty, Mama), the smoking hot Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness), Mia Wasikowski (The Kids Are Alright, Alice In Wonderland), and Charlie Hunnam for another go round.

Mia Wasikowski with Johnny Depp in ‘Alice In Wonderland’

Del Toro explained his ideas on Crimson Peak to Total Film.

It’s turn of the century, and half the movie takes place in America, and the other half takes place in a crumbling mansion in Cumbria. It’s a ghost story and a Gothic romance. The first half is a love story, then that love story turns darker, and at the same time, it’s also a ghost story.

I’m working at this moment on a re-write with Lucinda Clarkson, a really great playwright from the UK. She has the proper pedigree of perversity and intelligence to turn it into something interesting to watch.

For me, the classic haunted house movie is Robert Wise’s, The Haunting, which was a big movie, with the house built magnificently. The other grand daddy is Jack Clayton’s The Innocents.…I consider The Shining the Mount Everest of a haunted house movie. I loved the way Kubrick had such control over the big sets he used, and how much big production value there was.

Legendary Pictures is backing Crimson Peak after having established a good working relationship with Del Toro on Pacific Rim. Crimson Peak will start filming in the fall and is slated for April 15, 2015 release.