Variety reports that Universal has -- through their first-look deal with del Toro -- signed the man to some high-profile projects. We've got "Frankenstein", "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" the re-adaptation of (one of the best books ever written) Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five" and the first-time adaptation of Dan Simmon's forthcoming novel "Drood".

All of this due, of course, after "The Hobbit" and the as-of-yet-untitled gap-bridging Tolkien epic . Add in the oft-mentioned-but-not-confirmed Lovecraft adaptation "At the Mountains of Madness" and you've got one packed calendar.

"Slaughterhouse-Five" is the biggest (and in my opinion, most exciting) reveal of the bunch. I happen to be a huge fan of the original film but can't wait to see what Guillermo has up his sleeve.

"Drood" is believed to be the first post-"Hobbit" outing and sounds thematically ripe for the adapting; The story revolves around the later years of Charles Dickens' life and fictionally ties together a secret life of the author with his final novel, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood". 

Variety's article also suggests that the verdict is still out on a third "Hellboy" adventure. We're probably going to have to wait and see how DVD sales pan out on that one. Still, if you're a del Toro fan (and who isn't?), it's exciting to see all what he has in the pipeline.

On I side note, I find it amusing that Variety's article features a quote from Universal's President of Production Donna Langley in which, with regards to the Universal monsters, she says:

"Joe Johnston on 'The Wolf Man' showed us the importance of entrusting the Universal franchise monsters to experienced filmmakers with voices. That was a big impetus for our decision to go with Guillermo to put his creative stamp on these properties."

Is that a mean-spirited slap-in-the-face to Mark Romanek, whose last-minute departure from the project was the reason for Johnston taking over or just a bunch of meaningless PR-spewing? Either way, lets hope future Universal monsters come off better than "The Mummy 3".