Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Blade 2, The Shape of Water) confirmed that he had finally begun working on his long-gestating Netflix adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein late last year, with Oscar Isaac (Moon Knight, the Star Wars sequel trilogy), Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man movies), and Mia Goth (Infinity Pool, Pearl) in the lead roles.
“I’m doing Frankenstein. We’re working on it. We start shooting in February, and it’s a movie I have been wanting to do for 50 years since I saw the first Frankenstein. 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.”
Unfortunately, we recently learned that Garfield was forced to drop out due to a scheduling conflict, with Saltburn star Jacob Elordie stepping in to replace him as The Monster.
This also led to confirmation that Isaac will play Victor Frankenstein, and Goth is believed to have been cast as his wife, Elizabeth, who may also become the Monster's Bride, depending on which route Del Toro - who is also penning 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) have also signed on.
With filming scheduled to begin very soon, the Blade II director has now started scouting locations, and has shared a couple of icy-looking photos to social media. If you've read the book, you'll know that the story begins and ends in a desolate Arctic setting.
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).
With Del Toro behind the camera, it's probably safe to assume that this version will stick as closely as possible to the book.
Just in case you're somehow unaware of the premise of the novel, you'll find a brief synopsis below.
"A young scientist, Victor Frankenstein, driven by vanity and thirst for knowledge, manages to give life to a creature whom he assembled from dead material. The creature turns out very ugly, and Victor abandons him in horror. Rejected by his creator and hated by mankind in general, the Monster devotes himself to destruction and revenge."
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