[First Look] Jacob Elordi Becomes the Monster in Guillermo del Toro’s Long-Awaited ‘Frankenstein’
Del Toro has talked about wanting to make his own version of Frankenstein for years. He’s now 60 and knows time isn’t unlimited. “I’ve been doing movies for 30 years. I’m not going to be alive for 30 [more] years, I don’t think,” he told Vanity Fair.
He said this film is his “bucket list” project, something he refused to give up on even though studios kept turning him down. “Everybody said no,” he said, shaking his head.
Now the first look at the movie has been released, and Frankenstein and his monster are definitely real.
That’s been the story of del Toro’s career. He comes up with big, unusual ideas. Hollywood says no. Then years later, someone takes a chance, and the result is something unforgettable. That’s what happened with Pan’s Labyrinth in 2006, The Shape of Water in 2017, and Pinocchio in 2022.
He didn’t compromise on those films, and they ended up winning him Oscars. Netflix has now given him full creative control to bring Frankenstein to life, and the movie is finally set to arrive in November 2025.
The film is based on Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, but del Toro is giving it his own emotional and visual style. It stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the monster. Mia Goth plays Elizabeth, Victor’s fiancée. The cast also includes Christoph Waltz, Felix Kammerer, Lars Mikkelsen, David Bradley, Charles Dance, Ralph Ineson, and others.
This version won’t be a typical horror film. Del Toro says it’s more about feelings and human tragedy. “It’s not a horror movie,” he said. “It’s an incredibly emotional story.” The music, composed by Alexandre Desplat, is also being designed with that in mind. “Guillermo’s cinema is very lyrical, and my music is rather lyrical too,”
Desplat said. “So I think the music of Frankenstein will be something very lyrical and emotional. I’m not trying to write horrific music.”
The idea for the movie started way back in 2007. Del Toro said then that he “would kill to make” a version of Frankenstein that focused on its deeper meaning. He was inspired by classic versions of the story but didn’t want to just copy what had been done before. He liked the emotion that Boris Karloff brought to the monster, and the eerie emptiness that Christopher Lee showed in the old Hammer films.
In the years that followed, del Toro kept developing the idea. He worked on sketches and started script notes before the 2007 writers’ strike paused his progress. At one point, he even planned to cast Doug Jones as the monster and began early makeup tests. But the project stalled again when Universal decided to build its “Dark Universe” franchise instead.
Even with the delays, del Toro never gave up. He once said, “Part of me wants to do a version of it, part of me has for more than 25 years chickened out of making it.” He added, “You dream you can make the greatest Frankenstein ever, but then if you make it, you’ve made it. You cannot dream about it anymore. That’s the tragedy of a filmmaker.”
By 2023, things changed. After his Pinocchio win at the Oscars, Netflix gave the project the green light. Originally, Andrew Garfield was going to play the monster, but Jacob Elordi stepped in after Garfield had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts from the Hollywood strikes. Filming began in February 2024 in Toronto and wrapped in September. Some scenes were also shot in Edinburgh and Lincolnshire in the UK.
The movie will premiere at the Venice International Film Festival before its global release on Netflix. It will also be shown at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival as part of the Special Presentations lineup.
Del Toro is finally getting the chance to make his version of Frankenstein, exactly the way he imagined it. With a dream cast, the support of Netflix, and years of personal passion behind it, this could be the most personal and powerful film he’s ever made.
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