Guillermo Del Toro's Frankenstein Headed To Netflix With Oscar Isaac, Andrew Garfield, Mia Goth In Talks To Star

Mary Shelley's gothic masterpiece "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" has been an unsettling classic for almost 200 years. It's an epistolary novel told by two men: scientist Victor Frankenstein and the hideous, eight-foot being he created in a lab. The book has inspired dozens of movies since J. Searle Dawley's 1910 silent adaptation, the most notable of these being Universal's eight-film franchise in the 1930s and '40s, which includes James Whale's classic "Bride of Frankenstein." When the Universal series ran out of juice, Hammer Film Productions reimagined Shelley's story in gloriously gore-soaked color, featuring Peter Cushing as Frankenstein and Christopher Lee as the monster.

Curiously, the best film versions of "Frankenstein" are those that dramatically depart from Shelley's narrative. Whenever filmmakers try to stay faithful to the novel, they wind up with something misshapen or, in the case of Kenneth Branagh's "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein," utterly risible. There are very few directors working today who possess an abiding passion for the book and the technical chops to bring Shelley's tragedy to bold, bloody life.

One of those filmmakers is Guillermo del Toro, and he is about to embark on a retelling for Netflix.

Deadline is citing sources claiming that Guillermo del Toro is gearing up for a live-action adaptation starring Andrew Garfield, Oscar Isaac, and Mia Goth. The report cautions that no formal offers have been made to these actors and that del Toro has yet to finish the screenplay. Netflix is currently withholding comment.

"Frankenstein" is one of del Toro's all-time favorite monsters. In the 2000s, he was developing a live-action version that, visually, would've been very close to "Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein," an illustrated take on the novel that was released in 1983. In 2020, frequent del Toro collaborator Doug Jones revealed to Collider what this would've looked like:

"Guillermo is a big fan of Bernie Wrightson, and ... all of the images of Frankenstein's monster in that, that's what he was going to pattern my look after. Which was more emaciated, little skinnier, little more drawn, little more pathetic looking. And yet, had an unnatural physical prowess, an unnatural athleticism to him. He was sewn together with spare parts of a couple different bodies. Very bony face, long, stringy, drawn hair."

Given that del Toro once stated he has an "unhealthy" obsession with "Frankenstein," this is obviously a very big dream come true. It's early days, but any of the three actors attached to this project would make for a fascinating monster. Stay tuned for updates!