Guillermo Del Toro Confirms Cronos Criterion Blu-ray For December 2010!

Almost one month ago, we learned that Guillermo Del Toro was leaving his directing position on the upcoming two picture Hobbit production, due mainly to MGM’s inability to officially greenlight the project. Guillermo had committed to living in New Zealand for a number of years, and it was looking like that stay was going to be even longer. Throughout the early pre-production process, rumors swirled about his many side and future films he intended on directing, producing, and writing. From At The Mountains of Madness to a more traditional retelling of the Frankenstein story, Guillermo had a full plate ahead of him once he finished the Hobbit. Now that he is no longer going to direct the prequel to the Lord of the Rings, he is free to begin checking off some to-do items, off of his upcoming projects.

One project of great interest to fans of the Criterion Collection, is the hinted at edition of his early film, Cronos. Guillermo recently attended the Saturn Awards, where Collider‘s own Steve Weintraub (aka Frosty), was able to snag a 20+ minute interview with Del Toro, discussing his upcoming work. After the tape recorder was turned off, apparently Del Toro revealed that Criterion will indeed be releasing a Blu-ray (and presumably a DVD) of Cronos, this December! Check out the complete video, along with time stamped notes, over at Collider. Weintraub also mentions in the story that the Criterion release will feature a 15 minute documentary on Guillermo Del Toro’s legendary house, in which he keeps his impressive collection of genre memorabilia (check out this Wired article, featuring Guillermo’s home).

We all knew this was coming, but to know that we will see the release this year is so exciting, as a science fiction / horror genre fan, as their representation, while certainly of high import, is few and far between. Having it as a December release means that many a geek’s holiday wish list will have this at the top, or at the very least beneath the rumored New Hollywood Box Set that Criterion will be releasing for the holidays.

Are you excited for this release? What other science fiction / horror films are you hoping will end up in the Criterion Collection one day?