Guillermo Del Toro – Picture: Getty Images
Guillermo Del Toro is on a roll at Netflix, delivering his first two major projects for the streamer in 2022; eyes are now looking toward his future under his overall deal. What’s on Netflix has learned Netflix is eying a Dr. Frankenstein movie with the creator, and Oscar Isaac is eyed to star.
Netflix struck an overall deal with Guillermo Del Toro back in August 2020, with Pinocchio and Cabinet of Curiosities being his first major titles for the service. Before this deal, however, Del Toro also worked on the DreamWorks Television series Trollhunters and its subsequent sequels and Five Came Back.
While we’re waiting for a renewal order for Cabinet of Curiosities, attention has rightfully turned to what’s next from the creator.
In recent days, Guillermo del Toro has teased one of his upcoming projects will be a monster movie.
Speaking to the Variety Awards Podcast, del Toro told them about his next project, saying:
“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.”
First published in 1818, Frankenstein has become an icon in the horror space for decades and centuries. Although Universal Pictures re-copyrighted the character, the story of Frankenstein is within the public domain.
Netflix optioned Frankenstein in March 2022 from Elizabeth S. Wrightson.
As mentioned, we’re told Oscar Isaac is in talks to star in the feature film. Isaac is best known for roles in Dune, Disney+’s Moon Knight, Star Wars, and featured in Netflix’s Triple Frontier.
Of course, Isaac recently lent his voice to Pinocchio, set to release on Netflix on December 8th.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 03: Guillermo del Toro and Oscar Isaac attend Netflix’s Pinocchio NYC Tastemaker Screening at Crosby Hotel on December 03, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images for Netflix)
Production, we’re told, is due to start in June 2023.
Guillermo Del Toro was attached to a Dr. Frankenstein project a decade ago
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of Del Toro looking to delve into the world of Frankenstein or his love of the character.
The film director reportedly has busts of Boris Karloff as the monster in his house and has been developing a project for over a decade.
Collider spoke to Doug Jones about the scrapped project back in October 2020 and speculated the project, set up at Universal Pictures in the late 2000s, was killed after the disappointment at the box office for The Dark Universe.
Back in 2008, Del Toro spoke about his love for the IP and what his plans were for the project then telling Coming Soon:
“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!”
That’s all we know for now; we’ll keep looking for more details as and when we get them. Let us know in the comments if you’d like to see Guillermo Del Toro tackling Dr. Frankenstein in the comments below.