Guillermo Del Toro (Crimson Peak) has been in the news a lot lately. On top of his new haunted house movie, Crimson Peak, releasing this week, questions around the status of the director’s other rumored projects have been called into question. The director recently said in an interview with The Guardian, that he has grown tired of working on big action blockbusters.

The director said that Crimson Peak is much more in line with the projects on which he’d like to work.

What I can tell you quite safely is, I don’t intend to keep on doing big, giant Hollywood movies for much longer. Crimson Peak is a great permit for me to work on a smaller scale. I mean, it’s big for a drama, but it’s a much smaller undertaking than Pacific Rim or Hellboy.

This quote indirectly addresses the news of Pacific Rim 2 being put on hold due to financing issues and a lack of studio interest – also due to budget – to make Del Toro’s proposed story for Hellboy 3. Given that studios aren’t reportedly interested in giving each project the proper funds to meet Del Toro’s vision, this definitely calls into question whether these projects will ever come to theaters. Despite these statements, Del Toro said he might make an exception for those franchises when he wouldn’t work in others.

I can’t say which ones, but I’ve been offered gigantic movies in the superhero genre, but I don’t like the superheroes that are… nice. I like the dark ones, so Blade and Hellboy were right for me. The mechanics of action only interest me when it’s a universe very, very close to my heart, which Pacific Rim is, and I love it. I’m not going to pursue action movies or superhero movies at all any more. I hope I can go back to doing the smaller, weirder ones.

Since Pan’s Labyrinth released in 2006 to wide critical acclaim, Del Toro has operated almost exclusively in the blockbuster space with Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, Pacific Rim, and the upcoming Crimson Peak. Del Toro is also co-directing the dark animated retelling of the fairy tale Pinocchio.

For a while, the rumor was that Hellboy 3 would only be made if Pacific Rim 2 grossed amazing numbers at the box office. Now that Pacific Rim 2 is on hold, that all likely depends on Crimson Peak which, along with its ‘R’, faces a greater uphill battle as a horror movie rather than an action blockbuster.

Crimson Peak opens October 16.