Guillermo del Toro
{{short description|Mexican filmmaker (born 1964)}}
{{Distinguish|Guillermo de Torre}}
{{family name hatnote|del Toro|Gómez|lang=Spanish}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Guillermo del Toro
| image = Guillermo del Toro at 2025 Cannes Photocall (cropped).jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Del Toro in 2025
| birth_name = Guillermo del Toro Gómez
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1964|10|9|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
| spouse = {{marriage|Lorenza Newton|1986|2017|end=divorced}}
{{marriage|Kim Morgan|2021}}
| children = 2
| occupation = {{hlist|Filmmaker|author|artist}}
| yearsactive = 1985–present
| signature = Guillermo del Toro signature.svg
}}
Guillermo del Toro Gómez ({{IPA|es|ɡiˈʝeɾmo ðel ˈtoɾo|lang}}; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, gothicism and horror often blending the genres, with an effort to infuse visual or poetic beauty in the grotesque.{{cite web |last=Gorber |first=Jason |date=January 15, 2013 |title=Gorber's Epic Guillermo del Toro Interview, Part 2: On Producing and Building a Canon of Work |url=http://twitchfilm.com/2013/01/gorbers-epic-guillermo-del-toro-interview-part-2-on-producing-and-building-a-canon-of-work.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130118030442/http://twitchfilm.com/2013/01/gorbers-epic-guillermo-del-toro-interview-part-2-on-producing-and-building-a-canon-of-work.html |archive-date=January 18, 2013 |access-date=January 17, 2013 |work=twitchfilm.com}} He has had a lifelong fascination with monsters, which he considers symbols of great power.{{cite web |author=Guillermo del Toro |date=September 22, 2010 |title=Monsters Are Living, Breathing Metaphors |url=http://bigthink.com/ideas/24295 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901045037/http://bigthink.com/ideas/24295 |archive-date=2012-09-01 |access-date=January 17, 2013 |work=bigthink.com |publisher=Big Think}} Known for pioneering dark fantasy in the film industry and for his use of insectile and religious imagery, his themes of Catholicism, and celebrating imperfection, underworld motifs, practical special effects, and dominant amber lighting.{{cite web |title=Dissection of Darkness |url=http://lexpiccione.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Del_Toro_Catalog2.304224554.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112070753/http://www.lexpiccione.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/del_toro_catalog2.304224554.pdf |archive-date=January 12, 2015 |access-date=January 17, 2013 |work=lexpiccione.com}}{{cite web |last=Whitty |first=Stephen |date=July 7, 2013 |title=Guillermo del Toro on Pacific Rim, monsters, Hollywood and other horrors |url=http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/07/guillermo_del_toro_on_pacific_rim_monsters_hollywood_and_other_scary_things.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022143434/http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/07/guillermo_del_toro_on_pacific_rim_monsters_hollywood_and_other_scary_things.html |archive-date=2013-10-22 |access-date=July 7, 2013 |work=nj.com}}{{Cite web |date=2023-02-18 |title=Guillermo del Toro on how noir and crime literature shape his work |url=https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/the-treatment/daniel-kwan-and-daniel-sheinert-domee-shi-and-guillermo-del-toro-on-the-treat/guillermo-del-toro-pinocchio-noir-crime-literature-influences-chandler-hitchcock#:~:text=Academy%20Award%20winning%20filmmaker%20Guillermo,realities%20of%20the%20dark%20side. |access-date=2025-01-06 |website=KCRW |language=en}}
Throughout his career, del Toro has shifted between Spanish-language films—such as Cronos (1993), The Devil's Backbone (2001), and Pan's Labyrinth (2006)—and English-language films, including Mimic (1997), Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004) and its sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), Pacific Rim (2013), Crimson Peak (2015), The Shape of Water (2017), Nightmare Alley (2021), and Pinocchio (2022).
As a producer or writer, he worked on the films The Orphanage (2007), Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2010), The Hobbit film series (2012–2014), Mama (2013), The Book of Life (2014), Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018), Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019), and The Witches (2020). In 2022, he created the Netflix anthology horror series Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, featuring a collection of classical horror stories.
With Chuck Hogan, he co-authored The Strain trilogy of novels (2009–2011), later adapted into a comic-book series (2011–15) and a live-action television series (2014–17). With DreamWorks Animation and Netflix, he created the animated franchise Tales of Arcadia, which includes the series Trollhunters (2016–18), 3Below (2018–19), and Wizards (2020), and the sequel film Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (2021).
Del Toro is close friends with fellow Mexican filmmakers Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro G. Iñárritu, and they are collectively known as "The Three Amigos of Mexican Cinema".{{cite web|first=Anne|last=Thompson|url=https://hollywoodreporter.com/news/three-amigos-change-face-mexican-138793|title=Three amigos change face of Mexican film|date=September 24, 2006|website=Hollywoodreporter.com|access-date=2016-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517144821/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/three-amigos-change-face-mexican-138793|archive-date=2016-05-17|url-status=live}} He has received several awards including three Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Daytime Emmy Award, and a Golden Lion. He was included in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018,{{Cite magazine|title=Guillermo del Toro: The World's 100 Most Influential People|url=https://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/5217579/guillermo-del-toro/|access-date=2020-09-22|magazine=Time|language=en-us|archive-date=18 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918121613/https://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/5217579/guillermo-del-toro/|url-status=live}} and he received a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019.{{Cite web|title=Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro champions immigrants in Hollywood Walk of Fame speech|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/07/entertainment/guillermo-del-toro-hollywood-star-immigrants-trnd/index.html|website=CNN|language=en-us|date=August 7, 2019|access-date=October 21, 2020|archive-date=23 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023100210/https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/07/entertainment/guillermo-del-toro-hollywood-star-immigrants-trnd/index.html|url-status=live}}
Early life
File:Guillermo del Toro (Guadalajara).jpg, which was released in 1993]]
Guillermo del Toro Gómez{{cite news|title=Guillermo del Toro cumple 48 años en espera de El Hobbit|url=http://www.informador.com.mx/entretenimiento/2012/409818/6/guillermo-del-toro-cumple-48-anos-en-espera-de-el-hobbit.htm|access-date=November 26, 2013|newspaper=Informador|date=October 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202224414/http://www.informador.com.mx/entretenimiento/2012/409818/6/guillermo-del-toro-cumple-48-anos-en-espera-de-el-hobbit.htm|archive-date=2013-12-02|url-status=live}} was born in Guadalajara on 9 October 1964, the son of Guadalupe Gómez Camberos and automotive entrepreneur Federico del Toro Torres.{{cite news|url=http://www.gaceta.udg.mx/Hemeroteca/paginas/475/475_O2-5.pdf|title=El laberinto del Toro|last=Betancourt|first=José Díaz|work=La gaceta|publisher=University of Guadalajara|date=19 March 2007|access-date=27 February 2018|language=es|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125135318/http://www.gaceta.udg.mx/Hemeroteca/paginas/475/475_O2-5.pdf|archive-date=25 January 2018|url-status=dead}} Del Toro is of Spanish, Irish, and German descent.{{Cite web |title=Latino Observatory |url=https://latinoobservatory.org/noticia.php?ID=205&lang=en#:~:text=Del%20Toro%20was%20born%20in,at%20the%20University%20of%20Guadalajara. |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=latinoobservatory.org}} Raised in a strict Catholic household,{{cite news|first=Stephen|last=Applebaum|url=http://news.scotsman.com/entertainment/Like-his-bluecollar-demon-hero.4395428.jp|title=Like his blue-collar demon hero Hellboy, Guillermo del Toro has a few issues with authority|work=The Scotsman|publisher=The Scotsman Publications Ltd|location=Edinburgh|date=16 August 2008|access-date=17 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100831072946/http://news.scotsman.com/entertainment/Like-his-bluecollar-demon-hero.4395428.jp|archive-date=2010-08-31|url-status=live}} he attended the University of Guadalajara's Centro de Investigación y Estudios Cinematográficos (Film Studies Center).{{cite magazine|first=Daniel|last=Zalewski|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/02/07/show-the-monster|title=Show the Monster|magazine=The New Yorker|publisher=Condé Nast|location=New York City|date=February 7, 2011|access-date=March 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308211025/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/02/07/show-the-monster|archive-date=2018-03-08|url-status=live}}
When del Toro was about eight years old, he began experimenting with his father's Super 8 camera, making short films with Planet of the Apes toys and other objects. One short film focused on a "serial killer potato" with ambitions of world domination; it murdered del Toro's mother and brothers before stepping outside and being crushed by a car.{{cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2agklw/i_am_guillermo_del_toro_director_writer_producer/|title=I am Guillermo del Toro, director, writer, producer. AMA.|publisher=Reddit|date=July 11, 2014|access-date=July 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713051753/http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2agklw/i_am_guillermo_del_toro_director_writer_producer/|archive-date=2014-07-13|url-status=live}} Del Toro made about 10 short films before his first feature, including one titled Matilde, but only the last two, Doña Lupe and Geometria, have been made available.{{cite web|url=https://filmschoolrejects.com/features/short-starts-guillermo-del-toros-geometria-has-fun-with-irony-and-math.php|title=Short Starts: Guillermo del Toro's Geometria Has Fun With Irony and Math|work=filmschoolrejects|last=Campbell|first=Christopher|date=July 7, 2013|access-date=July 8, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130710205405/http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/short-starts-guillermo-del-toros-geometria-has-fun-with-irony-and-math.php|archive-date=July 10, 2013}} He wrote four episodes and directed five episodes of the cult series La Hora Marcada, along with other Mexican filmmakers such as Emmanuel Lubezki and Alfonso Cuarón.{{cite news|first=Andrew M.|last=Vargas|url=http://remezcla.com/features/film/la-hora-marcada-launched-career-alfonso-cuaron-emmanuel-lubezki-guillermo-del-toro/|title=Sci-Fi TV Series 'La Hora Marcada' Launched the Careers of Mexico's Most Acclaimed Filmmakers|work=Remezcla|location=New York City|date=March 9, 2016|access-date=March 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180309182306/http://remezcla.com/features/film/la-hora-marcada-launched-career-alfonso-cuaron-emmanuel-lubezki-guillermo-del-toro/|archive-date=2018-03-09|url-status=live}}
Career
= 1993–2001: Early films and breakthrough =
His first movie was supposed to be a stop-motion sci-fi feature called Omnivore, about a lizard-man born in a savage land where everything tries to eat everything else.{{Cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2022/11/guillermo-del-toro-interview-pinocchio-1234786841/ |title=Guillermo del Toro Interview: 'Pinocchio' Took Decades to Pull Off - IndieWire |date=30 November 2022 |access-date=30 April 2023 |archive-date=30 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230430235824/https://www.indiewire.com/2022/11/guillermo-del-toro-interview-pinocchio-1234786841/ |url-status=live }} He and his team built sets and about 100 puppets over a three-year period prior to filming. Vandals burglarized the studio one night and destroyed the puppets and sets, which put an end to his project as del Toro decided to switch to a live-action film, Cronos.{{cite web | url = https://www.slashfilm.com/1044432/making-pinocchio-in-stop-motion-brought-guillermo-del-toro-back-to-his-roots/ | title = Making Pinocchio In Stop Motion Brought Guillermo Del Toro Back To His Roots | first = Sandy | last = Schafer | date = October 11, 2022 | accessdate = December 10, 2022 | work = SlashFilm | archive-date = 16 October 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221016030612/https://www.slashfilm.com/1044432/making-pinocchio-in-stop-motion-brought-guillermo-del-toro-back-to-his-roots/ | url-status = live }}{{cite web | url = https://www.polygon.com/23502146/guillermo-del-toro-pinocchio-animation-interview | title = A pooping burglar derailed Guillermo del Toro's original animation career | first = Oli | last = Welsh | date = December 10, 2022 | accessdate = December 10, 2022 | work = Polygon | archive-date = 10 December 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221210182520/https://www.polygon.com/23502146/guillermo-del-toro-pinocchio-animation-interview | url-status = live }}
Del Toro studied special effects and make-up with special-effects artist Dick Smith.Wood, Jason, Talking Movies: Contemporary World Filmmakers in Interview, p. 29 He spent 10 years as a special-effects make-up designer and formed his own company, Necropia. He also co-founded the Guadalajara International Film Festival. Later in his directing career, he was a co-founder of the production company, the "Tequila Gang" together with filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron, screenwriter Laura Esquivel, producer Berta Navarro and sales agent Rosa Bosch.{{cite news|first1=Erich|last1=Boehm|first2=Benedict|last2=Carver|url=https://variety.com/1998/film/news/tequila-gang-to-pour-pix-1117480135/|title=Tequila Gang to pour pix|work=Variety|publisher=Penske Media Group|location=Los Angeles, California|date=September 4, 1998|access-date=March 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310135802/http://variety.com/1998/film/news/tequila-gang-to-pour-pix-1117480135/|archive-date=2018-03-10|url-status=live}}
In 1997, at the age of 33, Guillermo was given a $30 million budget from Miramax Films (then owned by Disney) to shoot another film, Mimic. He was ultimately unhappy with the way Miramax treated him during production, which led to his friend James Cameron almost coming to blows with Miramax co-founder and owner Harvey Weinstein during the 70th Academy Awards.{{cite news|first=Rebecca|last=Keegan|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/11/james-cameron-titanic-20th-anniversary-avatar-terminator-fox-studios-sale|title=James Cameron on Titanic's Legacy and the Impact of a Fox Studio Sale|work=Vanity Fair|publisher=Condé Nast|location=New York City|date=November 26, 2017|access-date=November 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171127161946/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/11/james-cameron-titanic-20th-anniversary-avatar-terminator-fox-studios-sale|archive-date=2017-11-27|url-status=live}}
= 2002–2016: Franchise films and ''The Strain'' =
File:Entrevista a Del Toro para TRAMA 39.jpg
Del Toro has directed a wide variety of films, from comic book adaptations (Blade II, Hellboy and its sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army) to historical fantasy and horror films, two of which are set in Spain in the context of the Spanish Civil War under the authoritarian rule of Francisco Franco. These two films, The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth, are among his most critically acclaimed works. They share similar settings, protagonists and themes with the 1973 Spanish film The Spirit of the Beehive, widely considered to be the finest Spanish film of the 1970s.{{cite news|first=Kim|last=Newman|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/empire-essay-spirit-beehive/review/|title=Empire Essay: The Spirit Of The Beehive Review|work=Empire|publisher=Bauer Media Group|location=Hamburg, Germany|date=12 February 2007|access-date=9 March 2018|archive-date=10 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310140303/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/empire-essay-spirit-beehive/review/|url-status=live}}
{{quote box
| width = 376px
| salign = right
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| source = —Guillermo del Toro, Twitch Film, 15 January 2013
| quote = I cannot pontificate about it, but by the time I'm done, I will have done one movie, and it's all the movies I want.
People say, you know, "I like your Spanish movies more than I like your English-language movies because they are not as personal," and I go "Fuck, you're wrong!" Hellboy is as personal to me as Pan's Labyrinth. They're tonally different, and yes, of course you can like one more than the other—the other one may seem banal or whatever it is that you don't like. But it really is part of the same movie. You make one movie.
Hitchcock did one movie, all his life.
}}
Del Toro views the horror genre as inherently political, explaining, "Much like fairy tales, there are two facets of horror. One is pro-institution, which is the most reprehensible type of fairy tale: Don't wander into the woods, and always obey your parents. The other type of fairy tale is completely anarchic and antiestablishment."
He is close friends with two other prominent and critically praised Mexican filmmakers Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu.{{cite web |url=http://www.beyondhollywood.com/del-toro-cuaron-and-inarritu-partners-up-with-universal/ |title=Del Toro, Cuaron, and Inarritu partners up with Universal |author=Nix |work=Beyond Hollywood |date=2007-05-20 |access-date=2013-06-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606131657/http://www.beyondhollywood.com/del-toro-cuaron-and-inarritu-partners-up-with-universal/ |archive-date=2013-06-06 }} The three often influence each other's directorial decisions, and have been interviewed together by Charlie Rose. Cuarón was one of the producers of Pan's Labyrinth, while Iñárritu assisted in editing the film. The three filmmakers, referred to as the "Three Amigos" founded the production company Cha Cha Cha Films, whose first release was 2008's Rudo y Cursi.{{cite news|last1=Rohter|first1=Larry|title=Cuarón, González Iñárritu and del Toro: The Three Amigos of Cha Cha Cha|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/movies/26roht.html|work=The New York Times|date=23 April 2009|access-date=2018-01-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130011220/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/movies/26roht.html|archive-date=2018-01-30|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Nichols|first1=Michelle|title=Gael Garcia Bernal does Cha Cha Cha at Sundance|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sundance-bernal/gael-garcia-bernal-does-cha-cha-cha-at-sundance-idUSTRE50I2MH20090119|work=Reuters|date=January 19, 2009|access-date=2018-01-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109064048/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sundance-bernal/gael-garcia-bernal-does-cha-cha-cha-at-sundance-idUSTRE50I2MH20090119|archive-date=2018-01-09|url-status=live}}
Del Toro has also contributed to the web series Trailers from Hell.[http://www.trailersfromhell.com/gurus/57 Guillermo del Toro] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100812080016/http://trailersfromhell.com/gurus/57 |date=2010-08-12}}. Trailers From Hell!. Retrieved October 24, 2011. In April 2008, del Toro was hired by Peter Jackson to direct the live-action film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. On May 30, 2010, del Toro left the project due to extended delays brought on by MGM's financial troubles. Although he did not direct the films, he is credited as co-writer in An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Five Armies.{{cite web |url=http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2010/05/30/36920-guillermo-del-toro-departs-the-hobbit/ |title=Guillermo del Toro departs The Hobbit |publisher=theonering.com |date=May 30, 2010 |access-date=2010-05-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100602015613/http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2010/05/30/36920-guillermo-del-toro-departs-the-hobbit/ |archive-date=2010-06-02 |url-status=dead }} On 1 December 2008, del Toro expressed interest in a stop-motion remake of Roald Dahl's novel The Witches in collaboration with Alfonso Cuarón.{{cite news|url=http://io9.gizmodo.com/5100620/guillermo-del-toro-dances-with-roald-dahls-witches|title=Guillermo Del Toro Dances With Roald Dahl's Witches|last=Woerner|first=Meredith|publisher=io9|date=December 1, 2008|access-date=February 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508092144/http://io9.gizmodo.com/5100620/guillermo-del-toro-dances-with-roald-dahls-witches|archive-date=2016-05-08|url-status=live}} On 19 June 2018, it was announced that Del Toro and Cuarón would instead be attached as executive producers on the remake with Robert Zemeckis helming the project and writing.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/witches-movie-robert-zemeckis-direct-roald-dahl-adaptation-1121675|title=Robert Zemeckis to Direct Warner Bros.' Adaptation of Roald Dahl's 'The Witches'|first=Mia|last=Galuppo|website=hollywoodreporter.com|date=19 June 2018|access-date=19 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620101640/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/witches-movie-robert-zemeckis-direct-roald-dahl-adaptation-1121675|archive-date=2018-06-20|url-status=live}}
File:Pan's_Labyrinth_premiere.jpg and del Toro receive a standing ovation after the North American premiere of Pan's Labyrinth at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival]]
On 2 June 2009, del Toro's first novel, The Strain, was released. It is the first part of an apocalyptic vampire trilogy co-authored by del Toro and Chuck Hogan. The second volume, The Fall, was released on 21 September 2010. The final installment, The Night Eternal, followed in October 2011. Del Toro cites writings of Antoine Augustin Calmet, Montague Summers and Bernhardt J. Hurwood among his favourites in the non-literary form about vampires.{{cite web|url=https://charlierose.com/videos/14026|title=Guillermo del Toro|last=Rose|first=Charlie|author-link=Charlie Rose|date=July 2, 2009|access-date=February 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228161701/https://charlierose.com/videos/14026|archive-date=2018-02-28|url-status=live}} On 9 December 2010, del Toro launched Mirada Studios with his long-time cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, director Mathew Cullen and executive producer Javier Jimenez. Mirada was formed in Los Angeles, California to be a collaborative space where they and other filmmakers can work with Mirada's artists to create and produce projects that span digital production and content for film, television, advertising, interactive and other media. Mirada launched as a sister company to production company Motion Theory.{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/heat-vision/guillermo-del-toro-partners-tout-58388|title=Guillermo del Toro, Partners Open Production Facility Doors|last=Kit|first=Borys|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=December 9, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101211225205/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/heat-vision/guillermo-del-toro-partners-tout-58388|archive-date=December 11, 2010|access-date=February 28, 2018}}
Del Toro directed Pacific Rim, a science fiction film based on a screenplay by del Toro and Travis Beacham. In the film, giant monsters rise from the Pacific Ocean and attack major cities, leading humans to retaliate with gigantic mecha suits called Jaegers. Del Toro commented, "This is my most un-modest film, this has everything. The scale is enormous and I'm just a big kid having fun."{{cite web|url=https://comingsoon.net/horror/news/722383-exclusive-guillermo-del-toro-on-hellboy-3-pacific-rim|title=Exclusive: Guillermo del Toro on Hellboy 3 & Pacific Rim|author=Mirko|publisher=ComingSoon|date=June 27, 2011|access-date=February 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228161734/http://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/722383-exclusive-guillermo-del-toro-on-hellboy-3-pacific-rim|archive-date=2018-02-28|url-status=live}} The film was released on 12 July 2013 and grossed $411 million at the box office.
Del Toro directed "Night Zero", the pilot episode of The Strain, a vampire horror television series based on the novel trilogy of the same name by del Toro and Chuck Hogan. FX had commissioned the pilot episode, which del Toro scripted with Hogan and was filmed in Toronto in September 2013.{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/article/1316099--guillermo-del-toro-s-toronto|title=Guillermo del Toro's Toronto|last=Barnard|first=Linda|work=thestar.com|date=January 17, 2013|access-date=January 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121102215/http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/article/1316099--guillermo-del-toro-s-toronto|archive-date=2013-01-21|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1710026/guillermo-del-toro-emma-watson-beauty-beast.jhtml|title=Finding Emma Watson's Beastly Costar Tops Guillermo Del Toro's To-Do List|last=Sullivan|first=Kevin P.|work=mtv.com|date=July 3, 2013|access-date=July 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130706102122/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1710026/guillermo-del-toro-emma-watson-beauty-beast.jhtml|archive-date=2013-07-06|url-status=dead}} FX ordered a thirteen-episode first season for the series on 19 November 2013, and series premiered on 13 July 2014.{{cite magazine|url=http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/11/19/the-strain-fx-series-order/|title='The Strain' gets FX series order: More vamps!|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|last=Hibberd|first=James|date=November 19, 2013|access-date=November 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131121015924/http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/11/19/the-strain-fx-series-order/|archive-date=November 21, 2013|url-status=dead}}
After The Strain{{'}}s pilot episode, del Toro directed Crimson Peak, a gothic horror film he co-wrote with Matthew Robbins and Lucinda Cox. Del Toro has described the film as "a very set-oriented, classical but at the same time modern take on the ghost story", citing The Omen, The Exorcist and The Shining as influences. Del Toro also stated, "I think people are getting used to horror subjects done as found footage or B-value budgets. I wanted this to feel like a throwback." Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, and Charlie Hunnam starred in the film.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2013/04/crimson-peak-guillermo-del-toro-movie-casting-benedict-cumberbatch-jessica-chastain-emma-stone-charlie-hunnam-469063/|title=Guillermo Del Toro's Next Pic 'Crimson Peak' Casts Benedict Cumberbatch, Jessica Chastain, Emma Stone & Charlie Hunnam – Deadline|author=The Deadline Team|work=Deadline|date=5 April 2013|access-date=2013-04-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130410000504/http://www.deadline.com/2013/04/crimson-peak-guillermo-del-toro-movie-casting-benedict-cumberbatch-jessica-chastain-emma-stone-charlie-hunnam/|archive-date=2013-04-10|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://slashfilm.com/charlie-hunnam-looking-to-reunite-with-guillermo-del-toro-on-crimson-peak/|title=Charlie Hunnam Looking to Reunite With Guillermo Del Toro on 'Crimson Peak'|last=Han|first=Angie|work=slashfilm.com|date=January 21, 2013|access-date=January 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124211043/http://www.slashfilm.com/charlie-hunnam-looking-to-reunite-with-guillermo-del-toro-on-crimson-peak/|archive-date=2013-01-24|url-status=live}} Production began February 2014 in Toronto, with an April 2015 release date initially planned. The studio later pushed the date back to October 2015, to coincide with the Halloween season.{{cite web|url=https://hollywoodreporter.com/news/guillermo-del-toros-crimson-peak-650845|title=Guillermo del Toro's 'Crimson Peak' Gets February 2014 Start Date|last=Vlessing|first=Etan|work=TheHollywoodReporter.com|date=October 25, 2013|access-date=October 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131027110527/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/guillermo-del-toros-crimson-peak-650845|archive-date=2013-10-27|url-status=live}} He was selected to be on the jury for the main competition section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.{{cite web|url=http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/article/61318.html|title=The Jury of the 68th Cannes Film Festival|access-date=April 21, 2015|work=Cannes Film Festival|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104191841/http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/article/61318.html|archive-date=2016-11-04|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://thewrap.com/jake-gyllenhaal-sienna-miller-and-guillermo-del-toro-join-cannes-film-festival-jury|title=Jake Gyllenhaal, Sienna Miller and Guillermo del Toro Join Cannes Film Festival Jury|access-date=April 21, 2015|work=The Wrap|date=21 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425003319/http://www.thewrap.com/jake-gyllenhaal-sienna-miller-and-guillermo-del-toro-join-cannes-film-festival-jury/|archive-date=2015-04-25|url-status=live}}
= 2017–2019: Awards success and acclaim =
File:Guillermo del Toro by Gage Skidmore 3.jpg in 2015]]
Del Toro directed the Cold War drama film The Shape of Water, starring Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, and Michael Shannon.{{cite news|last1=Evry|first1=Max|title=Michael Shannon Joins Guillermo del Toro's New Film|url=https://comingsoon.net/movies/news/684757-michael-shannon-joins-guillermo-del-toros-the-shape-of-water|access-date=May 10, 2016|work=ComingSoon.net|date=May 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510115038/http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/684757-michael-shannon-joins-guillermo-del-toros-the-shape-of-water|archive-date=2016-05-10|url-status=live}} Filming began on 15 August 2016 in Toronto,{{cite web|title=Guillermo del Toro on Twitter|url=https://twitter.com/RealGDT/status/710563568006123521|publisher=Twitter|access-date=March 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125000218/https://twitter.com/RealGDT/status/710563568006123521|archive-date=2018-01-25|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://popgoesthenews.com/2016/05/05/guillermo-del-toro-to-shoot-the-shape-of-water-in-toronto/|title=Guillermo del Toro to shoot 'The Shape of Water' in Toronto|date=5 May 2016|website=Popgoesthenews.com|access-date=30 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909235210/https://popgoesthenews.com/2016/05/05/guillermo-del-toro-to-shoot-the-shape-of-water-in-toronto/|archive-date=2017-09-09|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/RealGDT/status/763486468669001728|title=We start shooting The Shape of Water on Monday. I will tweet some images now and then|publisher=Twitter|access-date=October 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031062100/https://twitter.com/RealGDT/status/763486468669001728|archive-date=2017-10-31|url-status=live}} and wrapped twelve weeks later.{{cite web|url=https://comingsoon.net/movies/news/757693-guillermo-del-toros-the-shape-of-water-begins-production|title=Shape of Water: Guillermo del Toro Begins Production|date=August 15, 2016|website=Comingsoon.net|access-date=October 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170527165617/http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/757693-guillermo-del-toros-the-shape-of-water-begins-production|archive-date=2017-05-27|url-status=live}} On 31 August 2017, the film premiered in the main competition section of the 74th Venice International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Golden Lion for best film, making Del Toro the first Mexican director to win the award.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/09/guillermo-del-toro-the-shape-of-water-golden-lion-venice-2017|title=Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water wins Venice Golden Lion|last1=Staff|date=2017-09-09|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-09-10|last2=agencies|issn=0261-3077|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220010510/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/09/guillermo-del-toro-the-shape-of-water-golden-lion-venice-2017|archive-date=2017-12-20|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.labiennale.org/en/news/official-awards-74th-venice-film-festival|title=Official Awards of the 74th Venice Film Festival|work=La Biennale di Venezia|access-date=2017-09-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909233321/http://www.labiennale.org/en/news/official-awards-74th-venice-film-festival|archive-date=2017-09-09|url-status=live}} The film became a critical and commercial success and would go on to win multiple accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Picture, with del Toro winning the Academy Award for Best Director.
Del Toro collaborated with Japanese video game designer Hideo Kojima to produce P.T., a video game intended to be a "playable trailer" for the ninth Silent Hill game, which was cancelled.{{cite web|url=https://www.gamesradar.com/fk-konami-viva-kojima-guillermo-del-toro-says-canceling-pt-was-moronic/|title="F$%k Konami, Viva Kojima": Guillermo del Toro says canceling P.T. was "moronic"|date=2 December 2016|access-date=2018-11-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826132345/https://www.gamesradar.com/fk-konami-viva-kojima-guillermo-del-toro-says-canceling-pt-was-moronic/|archive-date=2018-08-26|url-status=live}} The demo was also removed from the PlayStation Network amidst major controversies. At the D23 Expo in 2009, his Double Dare You production company and Disney announced a production deal for a line of darker animated films. The label was announced with one original animated project, Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia.{{cite news|last1=Graser|first1=Marc|title=Disney in cartoon deal with Del Toro|url=https://variety.com/2009/digital/markets-festivals/disney-in-cartoon-deal-with-del-toro-1118008467|access-date=September 20, 2016|work=Variety|date=September 11, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927142257/http://variety.com/2009/digital/markets-festivals/disney-in-cartoon-deal-with-del-toro-1118008467/|archive-date=2016-09-27|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=McClintock|first1=Pamela|title=Helmer to haunt Disney's 'Mansion'|url=https://variety.com/2010/film/markets-festivals/helmer-to-haunt-disney-s-mansion-1118022085/|access-date=September 20, 2016|work=Variety|date=July 22, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927142711/http://variety.com/2010/film/markets-festivals/helmer-to-haunt-disney-s-mansion-1118022085/|archive-date=2016-09-27|url-status=live}} However, del Toro moved his deal to DreamWorks Animation in late 2010.{{cite news|last1=Debruge|first1=Peter|title=Del Toro bullish on several projects|url=https://variety.com/2012/digital/news/del-toro-bullish-on-several-projects-1118054434/|access-date=September 20, 2016|work=Variety|date=June 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305000829/http://variety.com/2012/digital/news/del-toro-bullish-on-several-projects-1118054434/|archive-date=2016-03-05|url-status=live}} From 2016 to 2018, Trollhunters was released to great acclaim on Netflix and "is tracking to be its most-watched kids original ever."{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2017/digital/news/netflix-q4-2016-earnings-1201962823/|title=Netflix Beats Q4 Subscriber Forecasts With Largest Quarterly Gain in Its History|first=Todd|last=Spangler|date=18 January 2017|website=Variety.com|access-date=30 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018072545/http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/netflix-q4-2016-earnings-1201962823/|archive-date=2017-10-18|url-status=live}}
In 2017, Del Toro had an exhibition of work at titled Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters, featuring his collection of paintings, drawings, maquettes, artifacts, and concept film art.{{Cite news|url=https://new.artsmia.org/del-toro/|title=Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters — Minneapolis Institute of Art {{!}} Minneapolis Institute of Art|work=Minneapolis Institute of Art|access-date=2018-02-17|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218090156/https://new.artsmia.org/del-toro/|archive-date=2018-02-18|url-status=live}} The exhibition ran from 1 August 2016 to 27 Nov 2016 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art,{{Cite web |date=2022-01-13 |title=Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters {{!}} LACMA |url=https://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/guillermo-del-toro-home-monsters |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=www.lacma.org |language=en}} from 5 March 2017 to 28 May 2017 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art,{{Cite web |title=Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters –– Minneapolis Institute of Art |url=https://new.artsmia.org/del-toro/ |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=new.artsmia.org}} and from 30 September 2017 to 7 January 2018 at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.{{Cite web |title=Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters |url=https://ago.ca/exhibitions/guillermo-del-toro |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=Art Gallery of Ontario |language=en}} A book about the exhibition was also published.{{Cite book |url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Guillermo-del-Toro-At-Home-with-Monsters/Guillermo-del-Toro/9781608878604 |title=Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters |date=2016-08-30 |isbn=978-1-60887-860-4 |language=en |last1=Toro |first1=Guillermo del |publisher=Insight Editions }}
In 2019, del Toro appeared in Hideo Kojima's video game Death Stranding, providing his likeness for the character Deadman.
= 2020–present: Career expansion =
File:Guillermo del Toro Annecy 2016.jpg
In December 2017, Searchlight Pictures announced that del Toro would direct a new adaptation of the 1946 novel Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham, the screenplay of which he co-wrote with his future wife Kim Morgan.{{cite web|first=Justin|last=Kroll|url=https://variety.com/2017/film/news/guillermo-del-toro-scott-cooper-antlers-nightmare-alley-1202637543/|title=Guillermo del Toro Taps Scott Cooper for 'Antlers' and Sets New Project 'Nightmare Alley' (EXCLUSIVE)|date=12 December 2017|website=Variety|access-date=12 December 2017|archive-date=12 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212221019/http://variety.com/2017/film/news/guillermo-del-toro-scott-cooper-antlers-nightmare-alley-1202637543/|url-status=live}} In 2019, it was reported that Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette and Rooney Mara had closed deals to star in the film, which went into production in January 2020.{{cite web |first=Mike Jr. |last=Fleming |url=https://deadline.com/2019/09/rooney-mara-guillermo-del-toro-nightmare-alley-bradley-cooper-cate-blanchett-fox-searchlight-1202710574/ |title=Rooney Mara Joins Guillermo Del Toro's 'Nightmare Alley' At Fox Searchlight |date=4 September 2019 |website=Deadline |access-date=4 September 2019 |archive-date=4 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904153502/https://deadline.com/2019/09/rooney-mara-guillermo-del-toro-nightmare-alley-bradley-cooper-cate-blanchett-fox-searchlight-1202710574/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |first=Borys |last=Kit |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/toni-collette-joins-bradley-cooper-guillermo-del-toros-nightmare-alley-1239523/ |title=Toni Collette Joins Bradley Cooper in Guillermo del Toro's 'Nightmare Alley' |date=13 September 2019 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=13 September 2019 |archive-date=14 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914000208/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/toni-collette-joins-bradley-cooper-guillermo-del-toros-nightmare-alley-1239523 |url-status=live }} It was released in December 2021 to positive reviews but was a box office failure. The film received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oscar-nominations-2022-nominees-list-1235088770/|title=Oscars: Full List of Nominations|work=The Hollywood Reporter|first1=Kimberly|last1=Nordyke|first2=Hilary|last2=Lewis|date=February 8, 2022|accessdate=February 8, 2022|archive-date=8 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208153404/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oscar-nominations-2022-nominees-list-1235088770/|url-status=live}}
In 2008, del Toro announced he was working on a dark stop-motion film adaptation of the Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, co-directed by Adam Parrish King, with The Jim Henson Company as production company, and music by Nick Cave.{{cite web|url=https://slashfilm.com/guillermo-del-toros-next-film-to-be-horror-also-producing-stop-motion-pinocchio-and-horror-anthology-tv-series/|title=Guillermo del Toro's Next Film to be Horror; Also Producing Stop-Motion Pinocchio and Horror Anthology TV Series – /Film|work=Slashfilm|date=23 July 2010|access-date=2014-10-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016124043/http://www.slashfilm.com/guillermo-del-toros-next-film-to-be-horror-also-producing-stop-motion-pinocchio-and-horror-anthology-tv-series/|archive-date=2014-10-16|url-status=live}} The project had been in development for over a decade. The pre-production was begun by the studio ShadowMachine. In 2017, del Toro announced that Patrick McHale is co-writing the script of the film.{{cite web|url=https://collider.com/guillermo-del-toro-pinocchio-patrick-mchale/|title=Guillermo del Toro's Stop-Motion Movie 'Pinocchio' Adds 'Over the Garden Wall' Creator|date=23 January 2017|website=Collider.com|access-date=30 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019124204/http://collider.com/guillermo-del-toro-pinocchio-patrick-mchale|archive-date=2017-10-19|url-status=live}} In the same year, del Toro revealed at the 74th Venice International Film Festival that the film will be reimagined during the rise of Benito Mussolini, and that he would need $35 million to make it.{{cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/6x9342/guillermo_del_toros_pinocchio_needs_35_million_to/|title=Guillermo del Toro's 'Pinocchio' Needs $35 Million to Start Production • r/movies|website=Reddit.com|date=31 August 2017|access-date=30 October 2017|archive-date=16 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116174414/https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/6x9342/guillermo_del_toros_pinocchio_needs_35_million_to/|url-status=live}} In November 2017, it was reported that del Toro had cancelled the project because no studios were willing to finance it.{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/guillermo-del-toro-pinocchio-canceled/|title=Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio Movie Is 'Not Happening'|work=Screen Rant|date=November 8, 2017|access-date=November 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171111152338/https://screenrant.com/guillermo-del-toro-pinocchio-canceled/|archive-date=2017-11-11|url-status=live}} In October 2018, it was announced that the film had been revived, with Netflix backing the project. Netflix had previously collaborated with del Toro on Trollhunters. Many of the same details of the project remain the same, but with Mark Gustafson now co-directing rather than Adam Parrish King. It premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on 15 October 2022,{{Cite web |url=https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=guillermodeltorospinocchio |title=Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio at BFI London Film Festival |access-date=2022-09-01 |archive-date=2022-09-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220901162432/https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=guillermodeltorospinocchio |url-status=dead }} and received a theatrical release on 9 November of the same year before a scheduled release on Netflix in December.{{cite web|last=Sharf|first=Zack|date=August 20, 2020|title=Guillermo del Toro's Next Film Is 'Pinocchio': Director's Passion Project Lands at Netflix and Reveals New Details|url=https://netflixjunkie.com/guillermo-del-toro-movies-series-coming-netflix-list/|access-date=August 20, 2020|work=Netflix Junkie|archive-date=14 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214175624/https://netflixjunkie.com/guillermo-del-toro-movies-series-coming-netflix-list/|url-status=live}} The film won the Best Animated Feature at the 95th Academy Awards.{{Cite web|last=Nordyke|first=Kimberly|date=March 12, 2023|title=2023 Oscar Winners: The Full List|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/2023-oscars-winners-list-1235349224/|access-date=March 14, 2023|website=The Hollywood Reporter|archive-date=13 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042718/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/2023-oscars-winners-list-1235349224/|url-status=live}}
Del Toro revealed plans to direct a stop-motion adaptation of the Kazuo Ishiguro novel The Buried Giant in January 2023, which he is co-writing with Dennis Kelly, as well as an as-yet unrevealed live-action film that he will shoot first.{{Cite web|last=Collins|first=Robbie|title=Guillermo del Toro: 'Childhood now is an absolute certainty that the doomsday clock is ticking'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/guillermo-del-toro-pinocchio-childhood-end-of-days-cinema/|date=January 27, 2023|access-date=January 31, 2023|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|archive-date=17 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217165410/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/guillermo-del-toro-pinocchio-childhood-end-of-days-cinema/|url-status=live}} In February, it was announced that del Toro would reteam with Netflix and ShadowMachine on The Buried Giant.{{Cite web|last=Fleming|first=Mike Jr.|date=February 23, 2023|url=https://deadline.com/2023/02/guillermo-del-toro-the-buried-giant-new-animated-film-pinocchio-netflix-kazuo-ishiguro-1235269356/|title=Guillermo Del Toro Following Groundbreaking 'Pinocchio' With Animated Adaptation Of Kazuo Ishiguro's 'The Buried Giant' At Netflix|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=February 24, 2023|archive-date=23 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223224015/https://deadline.com/2023/02/guillermo-del-toro-the-buried-giant-new-animated-film-pinocchio-netflix-kazuo-ishiguro-1235269356/|url-status=live}} In March, 2023, it was confirmed that Oscar Isaac, Andrew Garfield and Mia Goth were in talks to star in his long in-development Frankenstein film, now based at Netflix.{{cite web|last=Kroll|first=Justin|date=March 15, 2023|title=Oscar Isaac, Andrew Garfield And Mia Goth Top Choices To Star In Guillermo Del Toro's 'Frankenstein' At Netflix – The Dish|url=https://deadline.com/2023/03/oscar-isaac-andrew-garfield-mia-goth-guillermo-del-toros-frankenstein-1235299836/|access-date=March 15, 2023|website=Deadline Hollywood|archive-date=16 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316052343/https://deadline.com/2023/03/oscar-isaac-andrew-garfield-mia-goth-guillermo-del-toros-frankenstein-1235299836/|url-status=live}} Garfield was later replaced by Jacob Elordi and filming commenced in January 2024.{{cite web|last=Lutz|first=John|url=https://collider.com/guillermo-del-toro-frankenstein-cast-image/|title=Guillermo Del Toro's 'Frankenstein' Cast Prepares to Film in New Image|website=Collider|date=January 25, 2024|access-date=January 25, 2024}} At the 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival he said he planned to leave live-action films and just do animation: "There are a couple more live-action movies I want to do but not many. After that, I only want to do animation. That's the plan." He also expressed frustration over the fact that five of his projects were turned down by studios in just two months.{{Cite web |url=https://www.euronews.com/culture/2023/06/16/guillermo-del-toro-on-leaving-live-action-films-behind-and-calling-out-the-film-industry |title=Guillermo del Toro on leaving live-action films behind and calling out the film industry - Euronews |date=16 June 2023 |access-date=22 June 2023 |archive-date=22 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230622002812/https://www.euronews.com/culture/2023/06/16/guillermo-del-toro-on-leaving-live-action-films-behind-and-calling-out-the-film-industry |url-status=live }}
Favorite films
In 2012, del Toro participated in the Sight & Sound film poll. Held every 10 years to select the greatest films of all time, contemporary directors are asked to select their 10 favorite films. Del Toro chose:{{cite web|url= https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/voter/962|title= Guillermo del Toro|website= BFI|accessdate= July 4, 2022|archive-date= 5 July 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220705191448/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/voter/962|url-status= dead}}
- 8½ (1963)
- Beauty and the Beast (1946)
- Frankenstein (1931)
- Freaks (1932)
- Goodfellas (1990)
- Greed (1924)
- Los Olvidados (1950)
- Modern Times (1936)
- Nosferatu (1922)
- Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Del Toro updated his list for the 2022 edition of the poll:{{cite web|url= https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2022/12/8ac360v6wlga1zf2dfozjfs5r7oihc|title= S&S Directors' Individual Lists|website= World of Reel|date= 19 August 2019|access-date= February 23, 2023|archive-date= 23 February 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230223214004/https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2022/12/8ac360v6wlga1zf2dfozjfs5r7oihc|url-status= live}}
- 8½ (1963)
- Barry Lyndon (1975)
- Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
- City Lights (1931)
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
- Goodfellas (1990)
- The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
- Nazarín (1959)
- No Country for Old Men (2007)
- Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Personal life
=Family and residences=
Del Toro met and began dating Lorenza Newton, cousin of singer Guadalupe Pineda, when they were both studying at the Instituto de Ciencias in Guadalajara. They were married in 1986 and had two daughters together{{Cite web |url=https://www.wmagazine.com/story/guillermo-del-toro-divorced-in-2017 |title=Guillermo del Toro Reveals He and Wife Lorenza Newton Quietly Divorced In 2017 |date=9 March 2018 |access-date=9 August 2021 |archive-date=9 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809051611/https://www.wmagazine.com/story/guillermo-del-toro-divorced-in-2017 |url-status=live }} before divorcing in September 2017.{{cite web|last1=Macnab|first1=Geoffrey|title=Guillermo del Toro interview: 'I think adversity is good – that is very Catholic of me'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/guillermo-del-toro-interview-the-shape-of-water-oscars-mimic-weinstein-miramax-pans-labyrinth-harvey-a8197751.html|website=The Independent|date=7 February 2018|access-date=February 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215083823/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/guillermo-del-toro-interview-the-shape-of-water-oscars-mimic-weinstein-miramax-pans-labyrinth-harvey-a8197751.html|archive-date=2018-02-15|url-status=live}} In 2021, he married Kim Morgan, an American film historian who was formerly married to Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin.{{cite web |last1=Malkin |first1=Marc |title='Squid Game' Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk Addresses On-Set Firearm Safety in Korea: 'I Have Never Seen a Real Bullet' (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/columns/squid-game-creator-hwang-dong-hyuk-addresses-on-set-firearm-safety-in-korea-i-have-never-seen-a-real-bullet-exclusive-1235108642/ |website=Variety |date=10 November 2021 |access-date=16 November 2021 |archive-date=16 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211116025435/https://variety.com/2021/tv/columns/squid-game-creator-hwang-dong-hyuk-addresses-on-set-firearm-safety-in-korea-i-have-never-seen-a-real-bullet-exclusive-1235108642/ |url-status=live }}
Del Toro maintains homes in Toronto and Los Angeles, and returns to his native Guadalajara every six weeks to visit his family.{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/life/travel/2018/02/10/going-to-mexico-director-guillermo-del-toro-has-some-recommendations.html|title=Going to Mexico? Director Guillermo del Toro has some recommendations|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=2018-02-10|access-date=2018-03-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304085352/https://www.thestar.com/life/travel/2018/02/10/going-to-mexico-director-guillermo-del-toro-has-some-recommendations.html|archive-date=2018-03-04|url-status=live}} He also owns two houses devoted exclusively to his collection of books, poster artwork, and other belongings pertaining to his work. He explained, "As a kid, I dreamed of having a house with secret passages and a room where it rained 24 hours a day. The point of being over 40 is to fulfill the desires you've been harboring since you were 7."
=Views=
In a 2007 interview, del Toro described his political position as "a little too liberal". He pointed out that the villains in most of his films (such as the industrialist in Cronos, the Nazis in Hellboy, Italian Fascism in Pinocchio, and the Francoists in Pan's Labyrinth) are united by the common attribute of authoritarianism: "I hate structure. I'm completely anti-structural in terms of believing in institutions. I hate them. I hate any institutionalized social, religious, or economic thing."{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LcKqCPI2ew|title=Guillermo del Toro: "I hate structure."|publisher=YouTube|date=August 6, 2007|access-date=May 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213075807/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LcKqCPI2ew|archive-date=2013-12-13|url-status=live}}
In 2009, del Toro signed a petition in support of director Roman Polanski after Polanski was detained while traveling to a film festival in relation to his 1977 charges of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl. The petition argued the arrest would undermine the tradition of film festivals as a place for works to be shown "freely and safely", and that arresting filmmakers traveling to neutral countries could open the door "for actions of which no-one can know the effects."{{cite news |last1=Shoard |first1=Catherine |author2=agencies |date=September 29, 2009 |title=Release Polanski, demands petition by film industry luminaries |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/sep/29/roman-polanski-petition |url-status=live |work=The Guardian |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180108124633/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/sep/29/roman-polanski-petition |archive-date=January 8, 2018 |access-date=August 29, 2021}}{{Cite web |date=June 4, 2012 |title=Le cinéma soutient Roman Polanski / Petition for Roman Polanski – SACD |url=http://www.sacd.fr/Le-cinema-soutient-Roman-Polanski-Petition-for-Roman-Polanski.1340.0.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120604100742/http://www.sacd.fr/Le-cinema-soutient-Roman-Polanski-Petition-for-Roman-Polanski.1340.0.html |archive-date=June 4, 2012 |access-date=April 20, 2022 |website=sacd.fr}}
Raised Catholic, del Toro told Charlie Rose in a 2009 interview that his upbringing was excessively "morbid" and said, "I mercifully lapsed as a Catholic... but as Buñuel used to say, 'I'm an atheist, thank God.'" He insists that he is spiritually "not with Buñuel" and that he is "once a Catholic, always a Catholic, in a way". He concluded, "I believe in Man. I believe in mankind, as the worst and the best that has happened to this world."{{cite web |url=http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/10441 |title=A conversation with Guillermo del Toro |publisher=Charlie Rose |date=2009-07-02 |access-date=2010-03-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100313022024/http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/10441 |archive-date=2010-03-13 }} He has also responded to the claim that he views his art as his religion: "It is. To me, art and storytelling serve primal, spiritual functions in my daily life. Whether I'm telling a bedtime story to my kids or trying to mount a movie or write a short story or a novel, I take it very seriously." Nevertheless, he became a "raging atheist" after seeing a pile of human fetuses while volunteering at a Mexican hospital.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/02/07/show-the-monster|title=Show the Monster|last=Zalewski|first=Daniel|magazine=The New Yorker|date=February 7, 2011|access-date=September 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930083944/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/02/07/show-the-monster|archive-date=2017-09-30|url-status=live}} He also said that he was horrified by the way the Catholic Church complied with Francoist Spain, and even had a character in one of his films quote what actual priests would say to Republican faction members in concentration camps.{{cite web|url=http://screenanarchy.com/2006/12/pans-labyrinthinterview-with-guillermo-del-toro.html|title=PAN'S LABYRINTH—Interview With Guillermo Del Toro|date=17 December 2006|website=Screenanarchy.com|access-date=30 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029121309/http://screenanarchy.com/2006/12/pans-labyrinthinterview-with-guillermo-del-toro.html|archive-date=2017-10-29|url-status=live}} Upon discovering the religious beliefs of English writer C. S. Lewis, del Toro stated that he could no longer relate to Lewis and his work, despite having done so beforehand.{{cite news |title=Conversations: Guillermo del Toro |url=https://www.salon.com/2006/10/13/conversations_toro/ |work=Salon |date=13 October 2006 |access-date=19 December 2022 |archive-date=19 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219122924/https://www.salon.com/2006/10/13/conversations_toro/ |url-status=live }} cited in: {{cite book |last1=McDonald |first1=Keith |last2=Clark |first2=Roger |title=Guillermo del Toro: Film as Alchemic Art |date=2014 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-62356-013-3 |page=243 }} He described Lewis as "too Catholic" for him, despite the fact that Lewis was never a Catholic.{{cite news |last1=Armstrong |first1=Dave |title=Why C.S. Lewis Never Became a Catholic |url=https://www.ncregister.com/blog/why-c-s-lewis-never-became-a-catholic |work=National Catholic Reporter |date=5 March 2017 |access-date=19 December 2022 |archive-date=19 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219122908/https://www.ncregister.com/blog/why-c-s-lewis-never-became-a-catholic |url-status=live }}
Del Toro is not entirely disparaging of Catholicism, and his background continues to influence his work. While discussing The Shape of Water, he mentioned the Catholic influence on the film: "A very Catholic notion is the humble force, or the force of humility, that gets revealed as a god like figure toward the end. It's also used in fairy tales. In fairy tales, in fact, there is an entire strand of tales that would be encompassed by the title 'The Magical Fish'. And [it's] not exactly a secret that a fish is a Christian symbol." In the same interview, he said, "I don't think there is life beyond death, I don't. But I do believe that we get this clarity in the last minute of our life. The titles we achieved, the honors we managed, they all vanish. You are left alone with you and your deeds and the things you didn't do. And that moment of clarity gives you either peace or the most tremendous fear, because you finally have no cover, and you finally realize exactly who you are."{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/12/01/567265511/guillermo-del-toro-says-shape-of-water-is-an-antidote-for-today-s-cynicism|title=Guillermo Del Toro Says 'Shape Of Water' Is An Antidote For Today's Cynicism|website=npr.org|access-date=2018-11-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024154640/https://www.npr.org/2017/12/01/567265511/guillermo-del-toro-says-shape-of-water-is-an-antidote-for-today-s-cynicism|archive-date=2018-10-24|url-status=live}}
In an interview for his book and exhibition Guillermo del Toro at Home with Monsters, del Toro stated in 2016, "A lot of Mexican Catholic dogma, the way it's taught, it's about existing in a state of grace, which I found impossible to reconcile with the much darker view of the world and myself, even as a child. I couldn't make sense of impulses like rage or envy and, when I was older, more complex ones, you know. I felt there was a deep cleansing allowing for imperfection through the figure of a monster. Monsters are the patron saints of imperfection."{{Cite news |last=Riefe |first=Jordan |date=3 August 2016 |title=Guillermo del Toro: 'I love monsters the way people worship holy images' |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/03/guillermo-del-toro-bleak-house-home-lacma-exhibit |access-date=11 July 2023 |archive-date=11 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230711130128/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/03/guillermo-del-toro-bleak-house-home-lacma-exhibit |url-status=live }}
Del Toro is highly skeptical of AI in filmmaking, telling the British Film Institute in September 2024, "I saw a demo of AI [being used for animation] and I thought, 'Oh, that's what people think animation is: giving prompts and the computer does it. [...] AI has demonstrated that it can do {{nowrap|semi-compelling}} screensavers{{emdash}}that's essentially that. And I think the value of art is not how much it costs and how little effort it requires, it's how much you would risk to be in its presence. Are [screensavers] going to make [viewers] cry because they lost a son, a mother? Because they misspent their youth? No. [AI is] in the hands of people that don't think about it as a tool but as a solution. [...] It should be, if at all, optional."{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlC9sxUu2l0 | title=Pinocchio director Guillermo del Toro on the joy of hand-crafted animation | BFI in Conversation | website=YouTube | date=10 September 2024 }}
= Interests =
While studying at university, del Toro published his first book when he wrote a biography of English filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, whom he has long praised and admired.{{cite web|url=https://www.brentonfilm.com/articles/hitchcock-truffaut-the-men-who-knew-so-much|title=Hitchcock/Truffaut: The Men Who Knew So Much|website=Brenton Film|date=26 September 2018|access-date=3 February 2022|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203141317/https://www.brentonfilm.com/articles/hitchcock-truffaut-the-men-who-knew-so-much|url-status=live}}
In 2010, del Toro revealed that he was a fan of video games, describing them as "the comic books of our time" and "a medium that gains no respect among the intelligentsia". He referred to the video games Ico and Shadow of the Colossus as masterpieces.{{cite web|url=http://www.edge-online.com/magazine/hellboy-director-talks-gaming|title=Hellboy Director Talks Gaming|author=Staff|publisher=Edge Online|date=August 26, 2008|access-date=May 23, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414183624/http://www.edge-online.com/magazine/hellboy-director-talks-gaming |archive-date=April 14, 2009}} He later cited Asteroids, Cosmology of Kyoto, Gadget: Invention, Travel, & Adventure, and Galaga as his personal favorite games.{{cite web|url=http://www.next-gen.biz/features/hellboy-director-talks-gaming |title=Hellboy Director Talks Gaming|publisher=Next-gen.biz|date=2008-08-26|access-date=2011-10-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100812073133/http://www.next-gen.biz/features/hellboy-director-talks-gaming|archive-date=2010-08-12}}
Del Toro's favorite film monsters are Frankenstein's monster, the Xenomorph, Gill-man, Godzilla, and the Thing.{{cite web|url=https://aintitcool.com/node/50956|title=Guillermo Del Toro And Mr. Beaks Discuss DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, PACIFIC RIM And The Far-From-Used-Up Future Of AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS!|author=Mr. Beaks|work=aintitcool.com|date=August 24, 2011|access-date=September 29, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002182718/https://www.aintitcool.com/node/50956|archive-date=2017-10-02|url-status=live}} Frankenstein in particular has a special meaning for him, in both film and literature, as he claims he has a "Frankenstein fetish to a degree that is unhealthy". He said, "It's the most important book of my life, so you know if I get to it, whenever I get to it, it will be the right way."{{cite web|url=https://slashfilm.com/guillermo-del-toro-speaks-on-the-set-of-mama-the-state-of-horror-overextending-himself-battling-the-mpaa-frankenstein-and-much-more/|title=Guillermo Del Toro Speaks On The Set Of 'Mama' – The State of Horror, Overextending Himself, Battling the MPAA, Frankenstein And Much More – /Film|work=Slashfilm|date=24 October 2012|access-date=2012-12-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121127003614/http://www.slashfilm.com/guillermo-del-toro-speaks-on-the-set-of-mama-the-state-of-horror-overextending-himself-battling-the-mpaa-frankenstein-and-much-more/|archive-date=2012-11-27|url-status=live}} He usually watches three films a day,{{Cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/news/breaking-news/guillermo-del-toro-ai-the-buried-giant-pinocchio-1234878950/ |title=Guillermo del Toro Talks A.I., The Buried Giant, Pinocchio |date=27 June 2023 |access-date=29 June 2023 |archive-date=29 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629055541/https://www.indiewire.com/news/breaking-news/guillermo-del-toro-ai-the-buried-giant-pinocchio-1234878950/ |url-status=live }} and lists Brazil, Nosferatu, Freaks, and Bram Stoker's Dracula among his favorite horrors.{{cite web|url=https://nofilmschool.com/2017/10/5-guillermo-del-toros-favorite-surrealistically-creepy-films|title=5 of Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Surrealistically Creepy Films|date=11 October 2017|access-date=2018-02-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220033312/https://nofilmschool.com/2017/10/5-guillermo-del-toros-favorite-surrealistically-creepy-films|archive-date=2018-02-20|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://nofilmschool.com/2016/06/guillermo-del-toro-annecy|title=Guillermo Del Toro's 11 Rules for Becoming a Visionary Filmmaker|date=21 June 2016|access-date=2018-02-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220033506/https://nofilmschool.com/2016/06/guillermo-del-toro-annecy|archive-date=2018-02-20|url-status=live}}
Del Toro is also a fan of Japanese manga and anime, having called the anime Doraemon "the greatest kids series ever created".{{cite tweet|number=820437584090370048|user=RealGDT|title=Love that u guys love Trollhunters. May I suggest that you seek the greatest kids series ever created... Doraemon by master Fujiko F. Fujio.|author=Guillermo del Toro|author-link=Guillermo del Toro|date=January 14, 2017|access-date=January 15, 2017}} He has cited Hayao Miyazaki as one of his influences and one of his favorite storytellers in any medium, having identified with his style and influence through his Toei Animation and Studio Ghibli projects like The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots, Heidi, Girl of the Alps, My Neighbor Totoro, and The Boy and the Heron from childhood to adulthood, praising how he evokes the emotion of recognizing an impossible beauty only existing in films and realistically depicting brutal themes that affect the best and the worst of humanity, deeming Miyazaki an entirely genuine one-of-a-kind creator who exists fully in his art.{{cite web|url=https://time.com/6964119/hayao-miyazaki/|title=Hayao Miyazaki Is on the 2024 TIME100 List|author=Guillermo del Toro|date=18 April 2024|access-date=2024-04-21}}
Del Toro is highly interested in the culture of Victorian England. He said, "I have a room of my library at home called 'The Dickens Room'. It has every work by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, and many other Victorian novelists, plus hundreds of works about Victorian London and its customs, etiquette, architecture. I'm a Jack the Ripper aficionado, too. My museum/home has a huge amount of Ripperology in it."{{cite web|url=https://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/films/guillermo-del-toro-reveals-his-influences/89758|title=Guillermo Del Toro Reveals His Influences|date=15 October 2014|access-date=2018-02-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220092254/https://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/films/guillermo-del-toro-reveals-his-influences/89758|archive-date=2018-02-20|url-status=live}}
In 2019, del Toro paid for the flights of the Mexican teams to attend the 60th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in South Africa and the United Kingdom, after the Mexican chapter of the IMO announced the government had suspended financing for the youngsters.{{Cite web |title=Guillermo del Toro helps Mexican students attend mathematics contest |url=https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/english/guillermo-del-toro-helps-mexican-students-attend-mathematics-contest/ |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=El Universal |language=es |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326005237/https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/english/guillermo-del-toro-helps-mexican-students-attend-mathematics-contest/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Mexican kids win silver and bronze medals in the 60th International Mathematical Olympiad |url=https://sanmigueltimes.com/2019/07/mexican-kids-win-silver-and-bronze-medals-in-the-60th-international-mathematical-olympiad/,%20https://sanmigueltimes.com/2019/07/mexican-kids-win-silver-and-bronze-medals-in-the-60th-international-mathematical-olympiad/ |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=sanmigueltimes.com |date=29 July 2019 |language=en-US |archive-date=18 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018114907/https://sanmigueltimes.com/2019/07/mexican-kids-win-silver-and-bronze-medals-in-the-60th-international-mathematical-olympiad/ |url-status=live }}
Del Toro has an honorary doctorate from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). In November 2022, UNAM awarded him the Honoris Causa Doctorate for his "contributions to culture and his support for the youth".{{Cite web |date=2022-11-09 |title=GUILLERMO DEL TORO {{!}} UNAM Global |url=https://unamglobal.unam.mx/guillermo-del-toro/ |access-date=2022-12-25 |language=es |archive-date=25 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225012143/https://unamglobal.unam.mx/guillermo-del-toro/ |url-status=live }}
= Father's 1997 kidnapping =
Del Toro's father, Federico del Toro Torres, was kidnapped in Guadalajara around 1997. Del Toro's family had to pay twice the amount originally asked for as a ransom ($1 million). Immediately after learning of the kidnapping, fellow filmmaker James Cameron, a friend of del Toro since they met after the production of Cronos, offered to help del Toro pay for the ransom, which del Toro accepted.{{Cite web |author1=Sean O'Connell |date=2022-12-09 |title=Guillermo Del Toro Wants To Clarify A Misconception About James Cameron's Role In His Father's Kidnapping |url=https://www.cinemablend.com/interviews/guillermo-del-toro-wants-to-clarify-a-misconception-about-james-camerons-role-in-his-fathers-kidnapping |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=CINEMABLEND |language=en |archive-date=4 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230104164345/https://www.cinemablend.com/interviews/guillermo-del-toro-wants-to-clarify-a-misconception-about-james-camerons-role-in-his-fathers-kidnapping |url-status=live }} 72 days after Federico was kidnapped, the ransom was paid and he was released. The culprits were never apprehended, nor was the money ever recovered.{{cite news |last1=Wakeman |first1=Gregory |date=2014 |title=How James Cameron Saved Guillermo del Toro's Father From Mexican Kidnappers |work=Cinema Blend |url=https://www.cinemablend.com/new/How-James-Cameron-Saved-Guillermo-del-Toro-Father-From-Mexican-Kidnappers-67706.html |url-status=live |access-date=March 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306202454/https://www.cinemablend.com/new/How-James-Cameron-Saved-Guillermo-del-Toro-Father-From-Mexican-Kidnappers-67706.html |archive-date=2018-03-06}} The event prompted del Toro, his parents, and his siblings to move abroad. In a 2008 interview with Time magazine, he mentioned the kidnapping of his father: "Every day, every week, something happens that reminds me that I am in involuntary exile [from my country]."{{cite web|title=Somos una familia de cirqueros|url=http://www.elmanana.com.mx/notas.asp?id=67190|publisher=El Mañana|access-date=July 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080714065952/http://www.elmanana.com.mx/notas.asp?id=67190|archive-date=July 14, 2008|language=es|date=July 13, 2008}}{{Cite news |last=Cruz |first=Gilbert |title=10 Questions for Guillermo del Toro |magazine=Time |date=September 5, 2011 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2090370,00.html |access-date=July 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729191602/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2090370,00.html |archive-date=2013-07-29 |url-status=dead }}
Filmography
{{main|Guillermo del Toro filmography}}
= Film =
class="wikitable" |
style="background:#b0c4de; text-align:center;"
! Year ! Title ! Distributor |
1992
| Cronos |
1997
| Mimic |
2001 |
2002
| Blade II |
2004
| Hellboy |
2006
| Warner Bros. Pictures |
2008 |
2013
| Warner Bros. Pictures |
2015
| Universal Pictures |
2017 |
2021
| Searchlight Pictures |
2022
| rowspan="2" | Netflix |
2025 |
= Television =
Recurring collaborators
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;font-size:95%;vertical-align:bottom;" | |||||||||||||
rowspan=2 {{diagonal split header 2|Actor|Work}} | {{small|1993}} | {{small|1997}} | {{small|2001}} | {{small|2002}} | {{small|2004}} | {{small|2006}} | {{small|2008}} | {{small|2013}} | {{small|2015}} | {{small|2017}} | {{small|2021}} | {{small|2022}} | {{small|2025}} |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
! {{verth|Cronos}} | {{verth|Mimic}} | {{verth|The Devil's Backbone}} | {{verth|Blade II}} | {{verth|Hellboy}} | {{verth|Pan's Labyrinth}} | {{verth|Hellboy II: The Golden Army}} | {{verth|Pacific Rim}} | {{verth|Crimson Peak}} | {{verth|The Shape of Water}} | {{verth|Nightmare Alley}} | {{verth|Pinocchio}} | {{verth|Frankenstein}} | |
width="140"|Francisco "Napo" Sánchez{{†}} | {{yes C |
|-
| width="140"|Federico Luppi{{†}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Ron Perlman || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Himself || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Norman Reedus || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Doug Jones || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Íñigo Garcés || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Fernando Tielve || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|José Luis Torrijo || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Santiago Segura || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
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| width="140"|Ladislav Beran || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Pavel Cajzl || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Andrea Miltner || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Karel Roden || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Luke Goss || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Jamie Wilson || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Selma Blair || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|John Hurt{{†}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Brian Steele || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Jeffrey Tambor || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Jeremy Zimmermann || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Burn Gorman || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Charlie Hunnam || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Joe Vercillo || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Clifton Collins Jr. || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Neil Whitely || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Danny Waugh || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Cyndy Day || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Karen Glave || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Amanda Smith || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Jim Beaver || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Martin Julien || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|David Hewlett || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Richard Jenkins || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Dan Lett || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Matthew MacCallum || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Clyde Whitham || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Cate Blanchett || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Tim Blake Nelson || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{no|}}
|-
| width="140"|Christoph Waltz || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}}
|-
| width="140"|David Bradley || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{no|}} || {{yes C|}} || {{yes C|}}
|}
Bibliography
- Alfred Hitchcock (1990)
- La invención de Cronos (1992)
- Hellboy: The Golden Army Comic (2008)
- Hellboy II: The Art of the Movie (2008)
- The Monsters of Hellboy II (2008)
- The Strain (2009)
- The Fall (2010)
- Don't Be Afraid of the Dark: Blackwood's Guide to Dangerous Fairies (2011)
- The Night Eternal (2011)
- Guillermo del Toro Cabinet of Curiosities: My Notebooks, Collections, and Other Obsessions (2013)
- Trollhunters (2015)
- The Shape of Water (2018)
- At Home With Monsters (2019)
- Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun (2019)
- The Hollow Ones (2020)
- The Boy in the Iron Box Series (2024)
Additionally, del Toro has written or co-written unproduced screenplays for adaptations of Justice League Dark (titled Dark Universe), Beauty and the Beast (titled Beauty), At the Mountains of Madness, The Count of Monte Cristo (titled The Left Hand of Darkness), Spanky (titled Mephisto's Bridge), Superstitious, The Coffin, Drood, The List of Seven, The Wind in the Willows, as well as ones for potential remakes of Fantastic Voyage and The Haunted Mansion.{{Cite web |last=Sharf |first=Zach |date=26 November 2018 |url=https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/guillermo-del-toro-completed-scripts-unproduced-1202023246/ |title=Guillermo del Toro Reveals 17 Completed Scripts Never Turned Into Films |website=IndieWire |access-date=13 September 2023 |archive-date=28 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928165550/https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/guillermo-del-toro-completed-scripts-unproduced-1202023246/ |url-status=live }}
Awards and nominations
{{main|List of awards and nominations received by Guillermo del Toro}}
del Toro's films have been nominated for and won the following awards.
class="wikitable" |
rowspan="2" | Year
! rowspan="2" | Title ! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" width=160| Academy Awards ! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" width=160| BAFTA Awards ! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" width=160| Golden Globe Awards |
---|
Nominations
! Wins ! Nominations ! Wins ! Nominations ! Wins |
2006
|align=center|6 |align=center|3 |align=center|8 |align=center|3 |align=center|1 | |
2008
|align=center|1 | | | | | |
2013
| | |align=center|1 | | | |
2017
|align=center|13 |align=center|4 |align=center|12 |align=center|3 |align=center|7 |align=center|2 |
2021
|align=center|4 | |align=center|3 | | | |
2022
|Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio |align=center|1 |align=center|1 |align=center|3 |align=center|1 |align=center|3 |align=center|1 |
colspan="2"|Total
!align=center|25 !align=center|8 !align=center|27 !align=center|7 !align=center|11 !align=center|3 |
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
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- {{Bluesky}}
- {{IMDb name}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080915051127/http://www.bafta.org/learning/webcasts/a-life-in-pictures-guillermo-del-toro,466,BA.html Del Toro Webcast on BAFTA.org]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070125051517/http://www.premiere.com/features/3364/del-toros-pans-labyrinth-sketches.html Premiere Magazine: Inside Del Toro's Sketchbook]
{{Guillermo del Toro}}
{{The Strain}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Guillermo del Toro
|list =
{{Academy Award Best Picture Producers}}
{{Academy Award Best Director}}
{{Academy Award Best Animated Feature}}
{{AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Director}}
{{Annie Award for Directing in a Feature Production}}
{{Annie Award for Music in a Feature Production}}
{{Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best Director}}
{{Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay}}
{{BAFTA Award for Best Direction}}
{{Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Feature}}
{{Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Director}}
{{Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Director}}
{{DirectorsGuildofAmericaAwardFeatureFilm}}
{{The George Pal Memorial Award}}
{{Golden Globe Award for Best Director}}
{{Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film}}
{{Goya Award for Best Original Screenplay}}
{{Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Song in an Animated Film}}
{{Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Director}}
{{Nebula Award for Best Script/Bradbury Award}}
{{Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Screenplay}}
{{The President's Memorial Award}}
{{San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director}}
{{Satellite Auteur Award}}
{{Saturn Award for Best Writing}}
{{St. Louis Film Critics Association Award for Best Director}}
{{St. Louis Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay}}
}}
{{Venice Film Festival jury presidents}}
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