Álex de la Iglesia Adapting H.P. Lovecraft With Animated Film ‘Ages of Madness: The Howling of the Jinn’!

In news that I’m frankly surprised hasn’t happened yet, filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia (The Day of the Beast, “30 Coins”), is taking on the world of H.P. Lovecraft with the animated feature, Ages of Madness: The Howling of the Jinn, reports Variety.

The project hails from 3Doubles Producciones, which they describe as “the first major adult 3D animation production to fully adapt the complex universe of H.P. Lovecraft for the big screen.”

As for the story, 3Doubles says Ages of Madness will weave together “tragically intertwined stories” linked by perhaps Lovecraft’s most iconic creation, the Necronomicon, a book with the power to raise the Old Ones and drive human beings to madness. In the film, “the book will travel through time across four historical and geographical settings as distant as they are grim. Feeding on humanity’s thirst for forbidden knowledge, Necronomicon unleashes madness and the chilling certainty that we are nothing more than dust of the Ancient Ones.”

3Doubles added that the film “explores the fragility of human sanity in the face of the unknown.”

Why I’m surprised Iglesia hadn’t delved into animation like this before is because he started off as a comic book artist. Said Iglesia, “Before making movies, I used to draw monsters. I started out creating comic books, and animation has always been there. Ages of Madness gives me the chance to reconnect with my roots alongside an incredibly talented team. I am thrilled because, even after so many years in filmmaking, I can still tackle something new with the excitement of day one.”

Better late than never, I suppose. And with a talent like Iglesia tackling the maddening world of Lovecraft, Ages of Madness has immediately shot up my list of films I can’t wait to see…even if I go insane watching it. A sacrifice I’m willing to make.

Ages of Madness is set to begin production later this year.