Development
In 2007, Guillermo del Toro said that a project which he "would kill to make" would be a faithful "Miltonian tragedy" version of Frankenstein , citing Frank Darabont's "pretty much perfect" script, which evolved into Kenneth Branagh's film Mary Shelley's Frankenstein . [5] In January 2008, he revealed that he was then in the process of crafting drawings which he hoped to use as a basis for the world of the film, and that, additionally, he had begun taking script notes but stopped once the WGA strike had occurred. [6] The following month, del Toro said of his vision:
What I'm trying to do is take the myth and do something with it, but combining elements of Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein without making it just a classical myth of the monster. The best moments in my mind of Frankenstein, of the novel, are yet to be filmed [...] The only guy that has ever nailed for me the emptiness, not the tragic, not the Miltonian dimension of the monster, but the emptiness is Christopher Lee in the Hammer films, where he really looks like something obscenely alive. Boris Karloff has the tragedy element nailed down but there are so many versions, including that great screenplay by Frank Darabont that was ultimately not really filmed. [7] [8]
Later that year, in September, the film was set up through del Toro's three-year first-look picture deal at Universal Pictures, alongside a slate of films he was announced to direct including Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Slaughterhouse-Five and Drood. [9] Del Toro cited Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein illustrations as inspiration, and said the film would not be a direct adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel, but rather "an adventure story that involves the creature." [10] [11] Del Toro wanted Wrightson to design his version of the creature. [12]
In 2009, del Toro stated that production on Frankenstein was not likely to begin for at least four years. [13] Despite this, he had already cast frequent collaborator Doug Jones in the role of Frankenstein's monster and begun initiating makeup tests with the actor. [14] [15] Jones later commented that the project was shelved due to Universal's future plans for their Dark Universe franchise. [16] At Comic-Con 2010, del Toro told Collider that the story was his "favorite novel in the world". [17] In 2013, del Toro expressed public interest in casting Benedict Cumberbatch for the role of the monster. [18] In 2014, del Toro said that he would like to do versions of both Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, and that Universal chairperson Donna Langley had approached him several times about getting it going but that he was reluctant to do so because it is his "dream project". [19]
In 2016, del Toro said of his efforts to make the film:
Frankenstein to me is the pinnacle of everything, and part of me wants to do a version of it, part of me has for more than 25 years chickened out of making it. I dream I can make the greatest Frankenstein ever, but then if you make it, you've made it. Whether it's great or not, it's done. You cannot dream about it anymore. That's the tragedy of a filmmaker. [...] You landed a 10 or you landed a 6.5 but you were at the Olympics already, and you were judged. [20]
In 2020, in an interview promoting the film Antlers , del Toro stated that if he had the funding, he would make an adaptation of Frankenstein that would span two to three films due to the book's complexity and changing points of view. [21]
In 2023, the project was revived by Netflix, with whom del Toro had signed a multi-year deal to produce projects. Following the win of Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio at the 95th Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature, Variety revealed that he was set to write and direct the feature with Andrew Garfield, Oscar Isaac and Mia Goth in early talks for potential roles. [22] In September, del Toro revealed that filming was scheduled to commence in February 2024, and that Christoph Waltz had been added to the cast. [23] In January, Jacob Elordi replaced Garfield for the role of the monster, due to scheduling conflicts that had resulted from the SAG-AFTRA strikes. [24] [25] Del Toro had spent nine months designing the look of Garfield's monster but they were scrapped when he departed, leaving only nine weeks for him to redesign the look for the taller Elordi. [26] Felix Kammerer, Lars Mikkelsen, David Bradley, Christian Convery, and Charles Dance joined the cast in undisclosed roles. Dance also portrayed the father of Frankenstein in the 2015 movie Victor Frankenstein . [25] [27] In April 2024, del Toro announced Ralph Ineson had been cast in the film in a "pivotal" cameo appearance. [28]
Influences
Del Toro said of his inspiration for making the movie: “It was a religion for me. Since I was a kid — I was raised very Catholic — I never quite understood the saints. And then when I saw Boris Karloff on the screen, I understood what a saint or a messiah looked like. So I’ve been following the creature since I was a kid, and I always waited for the movie to be done in the right conditions, both creatively in terms of achieving the scope that it needed for me to make it different, to make it at a scale that you could reconstruct the whole world.” [33]
Del Toro acknowledges James Whale’s 1931 film of the same title as a formative influence and his version draws also from its sequel, 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein . [34]
During Netflix event in Los Angeles the first footage from the movie was scored to Polish composer Wojciech Kilar’s score for Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula. [35]
