Guillermo del Toro delivered a visual feast in 2025 with his high-budget adaptation of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, Frankenstein. The movie, which went on to win three Oscars, sparked genuine empathy for Jacob Elordi’s creature. And now, the master of fantasy and gothic horror movies is developing The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. But given his commitment to the animation medium, del Toro clarified he won’t simplify it to suit family-friendly expectations.
Guillermo describes his new project as “fascinatingly difficult” for adults
Recently, del Toro received a lifetime achievement award from the British Film Institute (BFI). On the special occasion, he dropped details about his upcoming movie, an adaptation of Ishiguro’s 2015 novel. The filmmaker described it as a “fascinatingly difficult stop-motion movie for adults” that he’s making “without any concession to a family audience.”
And honestly, it’s no surprise if we consider del Toro’s previous works. His 2022 Pinocchio adaptation introduced some incredible puppet designs but also perfectly captured the dark undertone of Carlo Collodi’s original novel. Last year, he didn’t go easy on Victor Frankenstein, portraying him as a mad and deeply flawed scientist whose arrogance and emotional immaturity led him to reject his own creation.
According to Deadline, he also expects The Buried Giant to be grueling from both emotional and technical aspects. The dark fantasy follows an elderly couple living in a post-Arthurian world that is suffering from collective amnesia. With fleeting memories, the duo set out to find their son, whom they barely remember now. Further, del Toro highlighted the importance of viewing animation as a sophisticated medium for conveying stories such as Pinocchio, Frankenstein, and his new adaptation.
“If you do a live action Pinocchio and all of a sudden a puppet walks through it becomes uncanny valley, which is a horrible thing that doesn’t belong in the same world,” the filmmaker asserted. “Just like if you do a live action movie about an old couple crossing a landscape full of trolls and fairies, and there are special effects and actors. I want all the creatures to be of the same material. It’s gonna take us years. And it’s incredibly difficult.”
Meanwhile, del Toro and Netflix are joining forces again to work on The Buried Giant. When the movie was first announced in October 2025, some reports suggested that the streaming giant was building a new stop-motion studio to support del Toro’s dreams and those of other animators. Are you excited for The Buried Giant? Tell us in the comments.
