In a letter to Latino Review, "Hellboy"-director Guillermo del Toro clarified that he was only writing and producing the Haunted Mansion:
Only producing and co-writing with Matthew Robbins for now. I would love to direct it if the timing allows it but I already have the next directing project ready to be announced in a week or so. Big and unexpected and full of invention. Haunted Mansion is, however, so perfect- because into it I can finally pour decades- most of my life- of admiration and veneration for Rolly Crump, Marc Davis and Claude Coats and the incredibly stylized and impossibly cool world they created. The movie I am imagining and that I dream of bringing forth is a full-on shrine to the feel we had as kids going into these E-ticket rides. For some people Haunted Mansion is just a ride for others, like me, who got caught in it at the precise age, it is almost a way of life.
G
So if you were disappointed at this afternoon's announcement, perhaps you can now breath a sigh of relief.
As for what this next film could be... statements made by the director in the last few weeks to Collider and SciFi Wire seem to indicate that his possible "Frankenstein" and "Hellboy 3" movies were still in early developement, and that either might be his project AFTER next. Meanwhile, his dream project "At the Mountains of Madness" seemed to be having difficulty finding studio support.
He also implied that whatever he does next, he hopes to have before cameras by May of next year.
We may yet see him go for that much-speculated Doctor Strange adaptation. But as today's announcement should have taught us by now, we should be prepared for anything.