Filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro has long stated that At the Mountains of Madness is a dream project of his, and thanks to his newly freed-up schedule after leaving The Hobbit, the director is about to make that dream a reality.

But Mountains of Madness wasn't always next on Del Toro's slate — and no, I'm not talking about The Haunted Mansion, the Disney reboot that's also on the director's agenda. Apparently, Del Toro very nearly directed a reboot of Van Helsing produced by and possibly starring Tom Cruise.

According to Vulture, the Van Helsing project would have presented a new twist on the mythos of the monster hunter, presumably still nursing his reputation back to health after that horrible Hugh Jackman-starring film. Despite Del Toro's departure from the project, it appears that Cruise remains attached to the Van Helsing film. Keep it locked into Spinoff Online to see how the project develops.