Guillermo del Toro Sets Sights on The Phantom of the Opera After Frankenstein With a Daring Reinvention
A classic tale returns to the spotlight, raising the stakes and recasting familiar ambitions with a distinctly modern twist.
Guillermo del Toro is doing the Guillermo del Toro thing: monsters, misfits, and a very packed slate. With his new Frankenstein out now, he just teased the next classic he wants to mess with, then immediately reminded everyone he has two other projects to finish first.
Del Toro wants to take a swing at The Phantom of the Opera
Asked by Inverse which misunderstood villain he wants to tackle next, he pointed to the big one: Phantom. And he made it clear he would not play it safe.
'The Phantom of the Opera, because it's such a classic tale, but I would do it differently... I have a couple of ideas but for now, I'm going into crime and stop-motion.'
Quick refresher: Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel follows a masked recluse haunting a Paris opera house who fixates on a young singer named Christine. It spawned a 1925 Universal silent film, Andrew Lloyd Webber's blockbuster 1986 musical, and the 2010 sequel Love Never Dies, which... did not win hearts.
What he's actually making right now
- Frankenstein: In theaters now and hitting Netflix on November 7. It leans into his usual obsessions (Gothic mood, empathy for the outcasts) that he explored in The Shape of Water and Crimson Peak.
- Fury: A new violent thriller he's writing now, starring Frankenstein lead Oscar Isaac. Del Toro says it steers back toward the cruel, sharper edges of Nightmare Alley. His own pitch is basically:
'I'm writing it right now, and it's called Fury... very cruel, very violent. Like My Dinner with Andre but [with] killing people after each course.'
- The Buried Giant: Announced in 2023 as his next stop-motion feature for Netflix, an animated adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel. It's his second stop-motion collaboration with Netflix after 2022's Pinocchio.
So yes, Phantom is on his mind, and I'd watch that in a heartbeat. But first: diners, murders, and miniatures. In the meantime, Frankenstein is already out there, with the Netflix drop set for November 7.