Frankenstein Producer Says Guillermo del Toro Is Doing His Own Monster Universe

The Dark Universe may be a thing of the past, but a new monster cinematic universe is coming to town. According to Frankenstein producer J. Miles Dale, Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro is working on making his own monster universe. Dale made the comment in a new interview with The Academy’s A.frame, suggesting his frequent collaborator and friend is the perfect person for a shared monster world.

“At one time, he was going to do the Monster Universe with Universal — Frankenstein’s Bride, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Invisible Man, The Wolf Man — and he didn’t,” Dale told the website. “We feel like Shape of Water was kind of a version of a creature. So now, here he is doing his own Monster Universe.”

Fresh off another Oscar win for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, the filmmaker’s next project is a live-action adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for Netflix. Gary says it’s going to be a “deeply emotional” movie.

“In the last couple of films, certainly with Nightmare Alley and then with Pinocchio, we’ve dealt with the whole father-son relationship. And Guillermo and I both lost our fathers in the last few years. When you have a strong father figure, it’s a big part of our lives,” Dale continued. “This version of Frankenstein very much goes down that thematic road. So, I feel like this is the third film in Guillermo’s father trilogy. That’s exciting, and when you read the script, it’s very emotional and, of course, very iconic.”

Little is known about del Toro’s take on Frankenstein other than the fact he’s spoken with Oscar Isaac, Andrew Garfield, and Mia Goth about appearing in the project. The filmmaker will serve as both writer and director on the project.

“It’s a pretty good cast,” Dale concluded. “We’ve had pretty good casts the last couple films. The last one was insane, frankly. I mean, that’s a pinch-me cast. And so was The Shape of Water cast. That’s another dream cast. I think there are a lot of actors that really want to work with Guillermo, and so that makes things a little bit easier. So, it should be fun. Nothing’s easy, and that one’s not going to be easy — it’s a big movie with a ship stuck in the ice and a ton of other things — but we’ve got a little bit of lead time on it, and we’re excited to get going.”

Frankenstein has yet to receive a release window from Netflix.