It's alive!
After a 17-year journey to the screen, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein arrives this November, and we finally have our first look at some footage (via FearHQ.com).
Netflix unveiled the first trailer for the fan-favorite filmmaker's adaptation of Mary Shelley's seminal novel during the streamer's annual Tudum event, and, as expected, it looks like this is going to be an extremely faithful retelling of the classic tale.
The teaser begins with Oscar Isaac's Victor Frankenstein recounting his story to Captain Robert Walton, who encounters the scientist, now mad with grief and fuelled by vengeance, during an expedition to the North Pole. From there, we see shots of Frankenstein conducting the fateful experiment that gives life to his terrifying creation.
As for Jacob Elordi's Creature, there are only a couple of obscured glimpses, but we do get to see him lay waste to a mob while bellowing his "father's" name.
It’s a movie I have been wanting to do for 50 years since I saw the first Frankenstein," Del Toro said back when the project was first confirmed. "I had an epiphany, and it’s basically a movie that required a lot of growth and a lot of tools that I couldn’t have done 10 years ago. Now I’m brave or crazy enough or something, and we’re gonna tackle it. It’s Oscar Isaac, Andrew Garfield, Christoph Waltz, Mia Goth, and we’re working on it.”
Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man) was originally cast as the Monster, but was forced to drop out due to a scheduling conflict, with Elordi stepping in to replace him.
Mia Goth will play Victor's fiancé, Elizabeth, who may also become the Monster's Bride, depending on which route Del Toro - who also penned the script - decides to take the story.
Felix Kammerer (All Quiet on the Western Front), Lars Mikkelsen (The Witcher), David Bradley (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio) and Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth) also star.
First published in 1818, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus has been adapted numerous times for the stage and screen, but there have been very few fully faithful takes on the story (the creature's appearance in the novel, for example, has never been accurately depicted).
Del Toro expressed his admiration for Shelley during his 2018 BAFTA acceptance speech for best director for The Shape of Water.
“The most important figure from English legacy is, incredibly, for me, a teenager by the name of Mary Shelley, and she has remained a figure as important in my life as if she were family,” del Toro said. “And so many times when I want to give up, when I think about giving up, when people tell me that dreaming of the movies and the stories I dream are impossible, I think of her.”
Are you looking forward to Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein? Drop us a comment down below.