It’s alive! ALIVE! Indeed, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein film is officially a go at Netflix, with Deadline reporting that the director has signed rising star Jacob Elordi to play Frankenstein’s monster. He replaces Andrew Garfield, who had to bail on the part due to scheduling conflicts arising from the SAG/AFTRA strikes. While some may be disappointed that Garfield won’t be playing the role, Elordi’s a rising star, with him a breakout lead on Euphoria and recently earning raves for his co-starring role in Saltburn. He also plays Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla.
Elordi, who stands a mighty 6’5, seems a clever choice to play the sympathetic monster. Given that it’s a Guillermo del Toro movie, I expect something radically different from a straight-ahead adaptation of Mary Shelley’s work. Perhaps, by casting a heartthrob like Elordi, Del Toro might be taking a page out of an underrated – but cultish – adaptation called Frankenstein: The True Story, which reimagined the character as a physically perfect specimen… for a while.
Oscar Isaac is set to play Dr. Victor Frankenstein, the monster’s tortured creator, with Mia Goth co-starring (potentially as The Bride). The film is being produced by Netflix. Coincidentally or not, the stars of two acclaimed Netflix projects, All Quiet on the Western Front’s Felix Kammerer and Sweet Tooth’s Christian Convery, are set to co-star alongside Christoph Waltz, Lars Mikkelsen, and del Toro regular David Bradley. The film will continue del Toro’s relationship with Netflix, with them producing his passion project, Pinocchio. Del Toro has been developing this film for many years, although it’s unknown how faithful this adaptation will be. Given del Toro’s love of period films, I think it won’t be set in the modern day, although I’m not sure he’ll go completely Victorian either.
Are you excited to see Guillermo del Toro take on this project with Jacob Elordi as his star? Let us know in the comments.