Cinema has few greater — or more vocal — champions than Guillermo del Toro. Whether advocating for animation being taken seriously during Pinocchio'
Cinema has few greater — or more vocal — champions than Guillermo del Toro. Whether advocating for animation being taken seriously during Pinocchio‘s awards run, leaning into the possibilities of 3D with Pacific Rim, or simply stretching the canvas with his expansive imagination to give us a Pan’s Labyrinth or The Shape Of Water, the Mexican fabulist’s very existence is all the argument you need for the massive screen experience to endure. Which is why we are very joyful to be learning today that Netflix have given their streaming only plans for GDT’s Frankenstein a rethink and confirmed an October theatrical run for the filmmaker’s passion project. Check out the nippy fresh teaser posters below for the official cinema release reveal;
There you have it — 17 October! Now sure, it’s a ‘select cinemas’ deal, meaning your average big-name multiplex possibly won’t be screening del Toro’s long-gestating take on Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s sci-fi classic, but we’ve no doubt that the Gothic chiller will be worth the cinephile’s pilgrimage to wherever it is showing. For starters, it’s got Oscar Isaac playing Dr. Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi as The Creature, and Mia Goth taking on the role of Elizabeth alongside a stacked ensemble including *deep breath* Ralph Ineson, Christoph Waltz, Charles Dance, Felix Kammerer, David Bradley, and Lars Mikkelsen. And then there’s the diminutive matter of it being genre master del Toro’s lifelong passion project finally realised, a faithful adaptation of Shelley’s tale of monsters and men oozing with style, shot both on location and on some of the most ornate sets you’ll ever see, and driven by an auteur at the very peak of his powers.
As the struggle between theatrical and streaming continues to rage on in an ever-evolving cinematic landscape, today’s news is a vital win for those who — like del Toro himself — believe that the bricks-and-mortar cinema experience is sacred, and must be preserved and supported at all costs. We shall very much look forward to seeing Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein come alive (ALIIIVEEEE!) on the BIG SCREEN on 17 October. (And then watching it again, and again, and again on Netflix come 7 November, because there is space in this world for both.)
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