Guillermo Del Toro's ‘Frankenstein': What Are Chances Of A Theater Run?
Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac in "Frankenstein."
Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein is coming to Netflix later this year, but will it also play in theaters? The answer is fairly simple, but it comes with a huge caveat.
The Oscar-winning director behind the creature feature The Shape of Water and the stop-motion version of Pinocchio was on hand with Frankenstein stars Oscar Isaac and Mia Goth at Netflix TUDUM 2025 on Saturday to unveil the first trailer for his adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic monster tale.
Jacob Elordi, who is playing Frankenstein's Monster in the film, wasn't present, but was featured in short video prior to del Toro, Isaac and Goth's arrival on stage.
While introducing the trailer to fans at the Netflix event, del Toro spoke of how important Frankenstein was to his life and filmmaking career, noting, 'I first read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as a kid and saw Boris Karloff in what became for me a religious state," del Toro said.
'Monsters have become my personal belief system,' the filmmaker added. "There are strands of Frankenstein throughout my films — Cronos, Blade, Hellboy, big time on Pinocchio and a long, long, et cetera."
Netflix released the Frankenstein trailer on YouTube immediately after its TUDUM 2025 debut on Saturday and to date the 2-minute, 23-second teaser has amassed more than 5.1 million views as of this publication. Neither del Toro nor the teaser indicated an exact release date for the film. Only one word — 'November' — appears at the end of the trailer.
That one word, however, is up for interpretation. Will the film only debut on the streaming service in November or will it have a theatrical run first? Whatever the case may be, there seems to be a fairly common denominator among the 8,200-plus comments that accompany the trailer on YouTube: Fans think the film needs to be shown in theaters.
So, the short answer of whether Frankenstein will be shown in theaters is without a doubt, 'Yes,' but that doesn't mean every one of del Toro's fans will get an opportunity to see the film on the big screen.
There's a reason Netflix is being cryptic with its release date. As a longtime awards season voter who tracks the races for movie honors annually — I've been a member of the Critics Choice Association's Film Branch since 1999 — there's no doubt in my mind that Netflix is going to assemble a full-fledged awards season run for the film with its November placement.
It's even reasonable to think that the streamer is probably already at work on putting together a campaign for the Oscars and other big awards shows and the date it releases the film is a huge part of that strategy. For one, no studio wants to release its film too early, only to be forgotten when another major contender comes along.
The next question that needs to be answered is whether Netflix deems the film as 'Oscar worthy.' The trailer alone already seems to make Frankenstein a shoo-in for production design and cinematography Oscar nominations, and that's only based on 2 and half minutes of footage. Once the makeup for Jacob Elordi's Frankenstein's Monster is unveiled, the buzz will likely begin for that category the Oscars, too.
Plus, given Guillermo del Toro's Oscars pedigree — he's been nominated for six Academy Awards and won three — Frankenstein will likely be a contender beyond the technical categories.
As if The Shape of Water's four Oscar wins — including Best Picture and Best Director for del Toro — isn't enough reason for Netflix to give the celebrated filmmaker awards season support for Frankenstein, then the streamer doesn't have to look back any further than 2022.
That's when del Toro and his late co-director Mark Gustafson released their acclaimed stop-motion adaptation of Pinocchio on Netflix, which won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film.
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MAY 31: (L-R) Oscar Isaac, Guillermo del Toro, and Mia Goth speak onstage ... More NETFLIX TUDUM 2025: THE LIVE EVENT at The Kia Forum on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Photo byfor Netflix)
Of course, to qualify for the Oscars, Netflix is bound to abide by the rules of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences if its to have a chance of securing Oscar nominations.
The rules state in part that a film must be available 'for paid admission in a commercial motion picture theater in one of the six qualifying U.S. metro areas: Los Angeles County; City of New York [five boroughs]; the Bay Area [counties of San Francisco, Marin, Alameda, San Mateo and Contra Costa]; Chicago [Cook County, Illinois]; Miami [Miami-Dade County, Florida]; and Atlanta [Fulton County, Georgia].'
Furthermore, per AMPAS rules, a film must have a 'theatrical qualifying run of at least seven consecutive days in the same commercial motion picture theater, during which period screenings must occur at least three times daily, with at least one screening beginning between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. daily.'
So, the good news is, as long as Netflix backs an awards season campaign for Frankenstein, fans in one of the six qualifying cities listed in AMPAS' rules of eligibility will get to see the film in theaters.
But where does that leave audiences outside of those markets?
Again, using Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio as an indicator, Frankenstein should get some sort of limited release that goes beyond the qualifying theatrical run for the Oscars. After all, at the end of Pinocchio's official trailer in 2022, it reads, 'In Select Theaters November and on Netflix December 9.' As such, it would be a shock for the streamer to not extend the same opportunity for Frankenstein.
Keeping its promise, Netflix released Pinocchio in theaters on Nov. 9, 2022, per The Numbers, but since the streamer doesn't report its box office information, the actual number of screens it played on domestically and how much the film grossed in its 'select' run remains a mystery.
One other hopeful scenario is that del Toro uses his clout and pushes for a larger theatrical run. It's something director Zack Snyder was able to accomplish before, when, per Variety, Netflix released his zombie epic Army of the Dead in 600 theaters on May 14, 2021. After that, Army of the Dead played for a week in five theater chains, including Cinemark, before it arrived on the streaming platform on May 21.
With that undead movie precedent and the broad cultural appeal of Mary Shelley's classic tale. Netflix won't need a mad genius to figure out that Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein needs to be brought to life on the biggest screen possible.
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