Production Begins on Guillermo del Toro's New Movie

After winning the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture two years ago for The Shape of [...]

After winning the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture two years ago for The Shape of Water, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has officially started principal photography on his next movie, Nightmare Alley. Searchlight Pictures (formally with "Fox" at the start of that name) made the announcement today revealing that cameras started rolling on the new film this week in Toronto, Canada. Del Toro will direct the film from a script he co-wrote with Kim Morgan (The Forbidden Room), based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham, and will also produce along with J. Miles Dale (Antlers, The Shape of Water).

Nightmare Alley will feature a huge ensemble cast which includes Academy Award nominee Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born, American Sniper), Academy Award Winner Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine, Elizabeth), Academy Award Nominee Toni Collette (Knives Out, The Sixth Sense), Academy Award Nominee Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse, At Eternity's Gate), Academy Award Nominee Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water, Rhe Visitor), Academy Award Nominee Rooney Mara (Carol, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), Academy Award Nominee David Strathairn (Lincoln, Good Night and Good Luck), and frequent Guillermo del Toro collaborator Ron Perlman (Pacific Rim, Hellboy).

"I'm inspired and elated to be joined by this brilliant cast," del Toro said. "Kim Morgan and I have worked with great passion to bring the dark, raw world and language of William Gresham to the screen and now we are joined by a superb group of artists and technicians to bring it to life."

The official description for Nightmare Alley reads: "An ambitious young carny (Cooper) with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is."

Cooper is joined in the film's carnival by Molly (Rooney Mara), head barker Clem (Willem Dafoe), and Ron Perlman as Bruno the Strongman. Richard Jenkins will play the part of wealthy industrialist Ezra Grindle. Characters for the other announced cast member were not confirmed.

Del Toro will reunite with many of his previously collaborators for the film including costume designer Luis Sequeira (The Shape of Water, Mama), Director of Photography Dan Laustsen (The Shape of Water, Crimson Peak), and Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Berardi (The Shape of Water, Crimson Peak). Tamara Deverell of The Strain will reunite with del Toro as the film's Production Designer with Editor Cam Mclauchlin (The Shape of Water, Pacific Rim) cutting the film.

An official release date for Nightmare Alley has not been scheduled yet.

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