‘I was reborn in this creature': Everything to know about Guillermo del Toro's ‘Frankenstein' as first image of Jacob Elordi's monster is unveiled

Yahoo

28-07-2025

The creature has emerged from the shadows.
After a brief glimpse in the teaser trailer, Jacob Elordi's take on Frankenstein's monster has finally been revealed as part of a cache of first-look photos from Guillermo del Toro's upcoming adaptation of Mary Shelly's gothic horror classic.
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The images, initially posted by Vanity Fair and then released by Netflix later Monday, show the cloaked creature (bearing scant resemblance to the iconic Boris Karloff version in the 1931 Universal horror film) staring intently, along with other scenes featuring the cast, including Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth, and Christoph Waltz, as well as del Toro directing. See the images below, along with everything we know about the film, which should prominently figure into the Oscar conversation.
Backstory
Del Toro has been talking about making this movie for nearly two decades, publicly declaring the Shelley novel, written when she was just 19, to be his favorite book. Always a fan of monsters — especially those in the Universal canon — del Toro crafted an awards juggernaut riffing on The Creature From the Black Lagoon with The Shape of Water.
While accepting the 2019 BAFTA Award for Best Director for The Shape of Water, del Toro paid tribute to the author. "The shadow of English culture has loomed large in my life, giving me inspiration," he began. "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.
"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," he continued. "She gave voice to the voiceless and prescence to the invisible. She showed me that sometimes to talk about monsters, we need to fabricate monsters our own, and parables do that for us."
During a January event to promote the Netflix slate, del Toro previewed the first footage from Frankenstein to select journalists. "I wanted to introduce a small taste, a teaser, for my film Frankenstein," the three-time Oscar winner said via video. "This film has been on my mind since I was a child — for 50 years. And I've been trying to make it for 20 to 25 years. In fact, some people may even think I am a little bit obsessed with Frankenstein. And they probably would be right. You see, over the decades, the character has fused with my soul in a way that it has become an autobiography. It doesn't get more personal than this. I hope you enjoy this small look at Frankenstein."
Del Toro's project is one of two major Frankenstein film projects coming in the next year. Maggie Gyllenhaal's follow-up to The Lost Daughter, The Bride! starring Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, and Penélope Cruz, is set for release next March.
The cast
The film stars Isaac as the titular scientist, Elordi as his signature creation, and Goth as the doctor's fiancée, Elizabeth. Rounding out the cast are two-time Oscar winner Waltz, and Game of Thrones alums Charles Dance, David Bradley, and Ralph Ineson (currently on movie screens as the world-devouring Galactus in The Fantastic Four: First Steps).
Speaking to Gold Derby earlier this year while promoting the limited series The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Elordi described what it was like transitioning from that intense Prime Video release to Frankenstein.
"I got a phone call, and I was on my way home, and they were like, 'You need to read Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein by 11 p.m.' And then I read it and I spoke to him and then found out I was making Frankenstein maybe three or four weeks after I wrapped [Narrow Road]," the actor said. "I had this wonderful thing happen. ... reborn in this creature, which is this character that is totally starting from scratch. So I have to rebuild myself physically and spiritually and mentally through playing the creature.
"It was like nothing I've ever done before."
The teaser
An atmospheric two-minute, 23-second preview was released in May and features Isaac in voiceover recounting "the memory of my evils" amid shots of his Victor Frankenstein robbing graves and desecrating corpses to assemble his creature. "In seeking life," the scientist intones, "I created death." At the trailer's conclusion we catch a glimpse of the shrouded creature as it lays waste to a group of vigilantes and shouts, "Victor!"
The release date
The film is expected to have a limited theatrical run for Oscar qualifying in November before streaming on Netflix later that month.
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