Tim Pope confirms work on ‘The Cure project,’ promises ‘bumper year for the 40th anniversary’

Last weekend we delved into some of the speculation about The Cure’s 40th anniversary next year, driven in part by a cryptic Lol Tolhurst tweet that he has now acknowledged was about his solo plans, not anything special he’s cooking up (yet) with Robert Smith.

But now we’ve got our first confirmation that something is indeed in the works to mark next year’s 40th anniversary, courtesy of film director Tim Pope, the man behind some of The Cure’s most iconic music videos (“Close To Me,” “The Love Cats”) and the full-length concert film “The Cure in Orange.”

RELATED: Is Robert Smith cooking up something big for The Cure’s 40th anniversary next year?

Pope started dropping hints on Twitter on Nov. 26 when he tweeted a photo — featured at the top of this page — that showed the director standing with the members of The Cure on the set of the “Lullaby” video (with Smith in full “spiderman” makeup), and the caption, “Odd man out?”

A few days later, Pope tweeted “BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS COMING SOON,” which he followed up on Friday with the confirmation that one of the projects he’s working on for 2018 involves The Cure, and “will be with the full participation of Robert.” He added that, “suffice to say it will be a 40th anniversary project.”

Pope continued dropping Twitter hints today, quoting lyrics from “The Caterpillar” and referring to “50 dusty boxes filled with memories.” That culminated with a slightly more direct statement:

“I’ll cut the cryptic crap soon, certainly before Christmas, but wanted to hint a little bit about next year’s plans on The Cure project because I am excited! Be great to work with my old chums, as we go so far back. Going to be a bumper year for the 40th anniversary!”

Pope’s longtime partnership with The Cure began with 1982’s video for “Let’s Go to Bed,” and continued through the ’80s and ’90s. He was behind all of the group’s best-known clips, including “Inbetween Days,” “Lovesong” and “Friday I’m in Love.” He even recorded a single, “I Want to Be a Tree,” with the band in 1984. He re-teamed with The Cure in 2013, following the group — with his cameras — on the group’s Latin America tour for a film that has yet to surface.

RELATED: 7 things The Cure’s Robert Smith promised to release this decade, but hasn’t

As for what Robert Smith and The Cure might have planned for 2018 — which marks the 40th anniversary of the release of debut single “Killing an Arab” — the band’s not yet saying.

In the meantime, check out Pope’s tweets below — along with a selection of his videos for The Cure.

Tim Pope’s recent Cure-related tweets:

Some of Tim Pope’s video for The Cure:

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