Earlier this week at the Cannes Film Festival, IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond attended a roundtable Q&A to discuss some of the films that will be getting the premium format treatment in theaters throughout the coming year. When asked about the possibility of Netflix's upcoming movie adaptation of Mary Shelley's gothic novel Frankenstein, he mentioned how IMAX has "done other projects with Netflix in the past." While this doesn't seem like positive news, it's what he says next that gives us hope.
He continued by saying that there are discussions happening about the possibility of releasing Frankenstein and other films in a limited theatrical run or "combining them with some kind of a live event." To put it simply, Frankenstein might not be confined to just a streaming debut. This story broke via Steve Weintraub of Collider, who attended the roundtable event.
Netflix has done a handful of theatrical releases in the past, albeit extremely limited and frustratingly short. Most notably, the company gave Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery a limited run in select theaters for just a few days, only weeks before its streaming debut. However, I hope this one is a different story. With visionary director Guillermo del Toro helming the Frankenstein adaptation, it's no doubt the film will be a sight to behold, and what better way to experience it than through the glory of IMAX?
Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein stars Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina, The Addams Family) as Victor Frankenstein, Mia Goth (Pearl, Infinity Pool) as Elizabeth, and Jacob Elordi (Saltburn, Euphoria) as the monster himself. The film also stars Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Bastards, Django Unchained) and Ralph Ineson (Nosferatu, The Witch). Additionally, it is confirmed to be released later this year, sometime in November.
Here's what the horror film will be about via Netflix:
"A brilliant but egotistical scientist brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation."
There’s no better time to bring Frankenstein’s monster back to the big screen. With Leigh Whannell revitalizing Universal Monster classics through The Invisible Man and Wolf Man, and the success of last year’s Nosferatu remake, it seems like we're in the midst of a monster movie renaissance!