Guillermo del Toro Says He Wanted to Make a Frankenstein Movie Before He “Even Knew How to Direct”
The Netflix adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic novel stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as Frankenstein's Monster.
One could say Guillermo del Toro's career is built on passion projects.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker behind Pan's Labyrinth and The Shape of Water doesn't move forward on a movie unless it can turn out exactly the way he sees it inside his head. It's why he has yet to tackle his long-awaited adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness.
No modern studio is willing to fully embrace the weirdness of cosmic horror, which doesn't exactly equate to surefire box office success. And even if they did, del Toro would almost certainly be forced to compromise on his uniquely singular vision.
It's also why the director re-teamed with Netflix for a new adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (streaming Friday, Nov. 7).
The juggernaut streamer, which previously bankrolled del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities anthology series and Oscar-winning Pinocchio, has regularly shown its willingness to grant more creative freedom than its contemporaries. That willingness to trust a seasoned storyteller has attracted Hollywood heavy hitters such as Martin Scorsese, Noah Baumbach, Alfonso Cuarón, Kathryn Bigelow, Rian Johnson, the Coen brothers, Ava DuVernay, David Fincher, and more.
As such, there was no other studio that could possibly facilitate the realization of Guillermo del Toro's long-gestating interpretation of The Modern Prometheus.
How long has Guillermo del Toro wanted to make a Frankenstein movie?
"Certain books and stories become part of your DNA," the director said in the official Frankenstein production notes. "Two of the closest things to me are Pinocchio and Frankenstein. This movie I wanted to do before I even had a camera, before I even knew how to direct."
Written and directed by del Toro, the film stars Oscar Isaac (Moon Knight) as mad scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi (Saltburn) as the famously misunderstood monster stitched together from discarded body parts.
"This film concludes a quest that started at age 7, when I saw James Whale’s Frankenstein films for the first time," del Toro added. "In Boris Karloff’s eyes, I felt the jolt of recognition in that seminal moment: Gothic horror became my church, and he became my messiah.
"Mary Shelley’s masterpiece is rife with questions that burn brightly in my soul: existential, tender, savage, doomed questions that only burn in a young mind and only adults and institutions believe they can answer," he continued. "For me, only monsters hold the secrets I long for. So, may monsters inhabit your dreams and give you as much solace as they have given me, for we are all creatures lost and found."
The cast also features the talents of Mia Goth (Ti West's X trilogy) and two-time Academy Award-winner Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained).
How to watch Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein
Frankenstein begins streaming exclusively on Netflix Friday, Nov. 7.
