Katie Holmes and Guillermo del Toro? Really?

If you thought Katie Holmes' career still had a downward trajectory, Guillermo del Toro respectfully disagrees. Del Toro's script for Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, which he co-wrote with Matthew Robbins, is being set up at Miramax as a "Guillermo del Toro Presentation." The Hellboy and Hobbit director will also co-produce the film, which will be directed by Troy Nixey, one of Guillermo's many proteges. That's quite a Boys & Girls Club he's got working these days. The film is an update of a 1973 TV movie, according to Variety, "about a young girl who moves in with her father and his girlfriend and discovers they are sharing the house with devilish creatures." It's unclear whether that exact same formula will be used or whether it will be reconfigured to better match its star. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark will shoot this summer in Australia, so that would probably mean a mid to late spring release at the earliest. I remember the last thriller with Holmes in the starring role. Anybody else see Abandon? Man, what a regrettable movie that was. It had a lot of talent in key spots, but wow, was it stupid. I'll never forget the single best detail about Abandon: Katie is called into the police station for questioning by Benjamin Bratt and there on the wall of his office is a wanted poster featuring an artist's rendering of a guy in a ski mask. Really? Plan to crack that one wide open, do you? Needless to say, the rest of the film wasn't much better. We'll hope for a reversal of fortune with Don't Be Afraid of the Dark.