It’s alive! It’s still here! 17 years after we first reported that Guillermo del Toro was interested in bringing his own t...
It’s alive! It’s still here! 17 years after we first reported that Guillermo del Toro was interested in bringing his own take on Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s seminal science fiction novel Frankenstein to our screens; Or, The Modern Prometheus, the Mexican author’s all-star gothic horror can, is on its way, and heading to Netflix this year. And today, following a presentation where the streamer showcased its massive 2025 film slate, Netflix has given us a few first-look images of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein.
And here is Frankenstein in his steampunk-style laboratory, featuring a suspiciously large figure who may or may not be Jacob Elordi’s Creature;
When del Toro won the BAFTA for Best Director for “The Shape of Water” in 2018, the fiction maker took the time to personally thank Shelley for the inspiration he’d given him throughout his life and career. And, by bringing together talented actors like Isaac and Elordi, Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz, Felix Kammerer, Lars Mikkelsen, David Bradley, Christian Convery and Ralph Ineson to bring his vision to life, it seems the infamous GD is ready to repay that inspiration.
And by finding humanity in the seemingly monstrous character and the monstrous in the seemingly human, weaving a painfully beautiful and deeply haunting cinematic yarn that will make you weep with fear, there’s a strong argument to be made that the movie is crying out for del Toro’s Frankenstein as much as the director himself. Also, considering the father-son framing of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and, to a lesser extent, Nightmare Alley, this outline of Shelley’s book is perfectly placed for an eye-opening tripartite synopsis of the patriarchally related films; the Daddy Issues trilogy, if you will.
Set between Scotland and Canada, between the Gothic architecture of Edinburgh and the freezing weather of Toronto, del Toro's Frankenstein - one of two major Frankenstein-related works released this year (the other being Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride!) - is becoming a project into the life of one of cinema's great mad scientists. We'll see whether Guillermo del Toro's take on the deranged scientist and his tragic son inspires love or fear when it hits Netflix in November.
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