From Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau to Alejandro Amenábara’s The Others, gothic horror has a grand tradition in cinema history. In 2025, the genre will get another resurgence. Guillermo del Toro, the mind behind Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy and The Shape of Water, is working on an adaptation of Frankenstein for Netflix – Mary Shelley’s visionary novel.
In recent years, gothic horror has been experiencing a revival, with Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria and Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu paving the way. Not to mention Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn or Yórgos Lánthimos’ Poor Things, which clearly play with gothic aesthetics. What’s more, The Bride by Maggie Gyllenhaal and an adaptation of Wuthering Heights from Fennell are in the pipeline.
Del Toro’s adaptation of Frankenstein marks his third collaboration with Netflix. The Mexican director has already created two projects for the streaming giant – an animated retelling of a fable about Pinocchio and Cabinet of Curiosities, a horror anthology miniseries.
Guillermo del Toro is writing, directing and co-producing the Frankenstein movie, and here’s all we know about this dark tale.
When will Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein be released?
The film will premiere on Netflix in November 2025, however, the exact date hasn’t been announced yet.
Frankenstein is del Toro’s passion project. The director first mentioned it in 2008, admitting that he had been dreaming of adapting Mary Shelley’s novel since childhood. At that time, he noted that it wouldn’t be a faithful adaptation but a retelling of the classic tale.
I’m not doing ‘Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein.’ I’m doing an adventure story that involves the Creature. I cannot say much, but it’s not the central creation story, I’m not worried about that. The fact is I’ve been dreaming of doing a ‘Frankenstein’ movie since I was a child. The one thing I can promise is, compared to Kenneth Branagh, I will not appear shirtless in the movie!
In 2022, in an interview for Variety Awards Podcast, Guillermo del Toro revealed:
Well, I’m working on a monster movie; I cannot say the title because it may change, and I could end up making something else. But right now, I’m writing and designing. And we have for the last couple of years. Hopefully, it’ll be next, but anything can happen.
In October 2023, during the conversation with Collider, the director officially announced that he’s working on the Frankenstein movie for Netflix:
I’m doing Frankenstein. We’re working on it, we start shooting on it in February. It’s a movie I’ve been wanting to do for 50 years since I saw the first Frankenstein and I had an epiphany and is basically a movie that requires a lot of growth and a lot of tools that I couldn’t have done 10 years ago, 20 years ago and now I’m brave or crazy enough or something and we’re going to tackle it.
What will the plot of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein be about?
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a famous gothic novel written by Mary Shelley in 1818. The story was developed as part of a friendly writing contest the British author held with lover and future husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Polidori, and Lord Byron while in Switzerland.
The novel, considered an early example of science fiction, tells the story of the young man Victor Frankenstein. After his mother’s death, obsessed with alchemy and modern science, he tries to create artificial life. Using body parts and electricity, Victor makes a monstrous creature, which he abandons in panic after it awakens in the lab.
For now, it’s unclear how faithfully del Toro adapted the famous novel. The official log line for the movie reads:
Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro adapts Mary Shelley’s classic tale of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.
Netflix
Who will star in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein?
Frankenstein’s cast is an impressive line-up. The mad scientist Victor Frankenstein is portrayed by Oscar Isaac, best known for his performances in Ex Machina, Inside Llewyn Davis and Dune. The Creature is played by Jacob Elordi, one of the most popular young actors known for Euphoria, Saltburn and Priscilla.
The horror cast includes Mia Goth, best known for Ti West’s horror trilogy, X, Pearl and MaXXXine, but also for the disturbing Infinity Pool by Brandon Cronenberg and Emma, a charming adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel.
The film also features Charles Dance, who became famous for his portrayal of Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones, and Christoph Waltz, known for his roles as Hans Landa from Inglourious Basterds and Dr. Schultz in Django Unchained.
In the movie you can also spot Felix Kammerer (All Quiet on the Western Front), Lars Mikkelsen (Sherlock, The Witcher, Ahsoka), Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth) and David Bradley (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, the Harry Potter films).
Is there a trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein?
Not yet, but we expect the first teasers of the film to appear in the coming months.
Del Toro’s films are famous for their unique visual style, combining the grotesque with gore and poetic beauty. The director is eager to blend fairy tales with gothic horror and infuse his stories with religious motifs and mythical tropes. He’s also a big fan of practical special effects.
Even in less successful films, del Toro has provided stunning visuals. Thus, we’re looking forward to the trailers, which will give us a taste of the wonders to come.
