After its splashy Venice Film Festival premiere, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is now finally about to hit screens big and small. The triple Oscar winner’s new retelling of Mary Shelley’s Gothic classic, which he has directed, written, and produced, will arrive in cinemas on October 17, and then land on Netflix on November 7.
As in the original novel, and its countless onscreen depictions including 1931’s Frankenstein starring Boris Karloff, it follows Victor Frankenstein, the pioneering scientist who conducts an unorthodox experiment that produces a terrifying creature. Jacob Elordi plays that hulking monster, taking over a role once snapped up by Andrew Garfield, who reportedly then departed the project as a result of strike-related scheduling conflicts. Opposite him? Oscar Isaac, of course, as the titular trailblazer.
Two trailers have now been released, with the second offering a closer look at Elordi’s creature.
To no one’s surprise, the prolific Mexican filmmaker has also assembled a stellar supporting cast: double Oscar winner Christoph Waltz, as an arms dealer and wealthy benefactor of Frankenstein’s; All Quiet on the Western Front’s Felix Kammerer as Victor’s kind-hearted younger brother; Mia Goth as that brother’s bride to be; Christian Convery as young Victor; The Witcher’s Lars Mikkelsen as a mysterious captain; and Game of Thrones’s David Bradley and Charles Dance, as the story’s wise old blind man and Victor’s formidable father, respectively.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
The film’s release marks the fulfilment of a lifelong dream for del Toro, and he hasn’t skimped on the lavish spectacle of the sets, costumes, makeup, and special effects. Expect to encounter cavernous, intricately-designed laboratories, Pan’s Labyrinth-esque wonderlands, and extravagant, off-kilter period dress.
Could this big, bold, operatic swing lead the filmmaker back to the Academy Awards, where he cleaned up in 2018 with The Shape of Water? It’s certainly impossible to overlook the jaw-dropping work of production designer Tamara Deverell, costumer Kate Hawley, and makeup artist Mike Hill, all of whom have yet to take home a golden statuette and could easily sweep the craft categories this time.
Beyond that, it’s still too early to tell—but if there’s one thing we know about del Toro, it’s that you can never count him out. He’s made a more-than-four-decade-long career out of defying expectations.
