Writer-director Guillermo del Toro is known for his original screenplays-based films, such as Pan's Labyrinth and The Shape of Water, to name two. He has also written screenplays for projects made under others' direction, such as the show titled The Strain. Interestingly, the filmmaker recently revealed that not all of his 42 screenplays became films. Speaking to Bradley Cooper for a conversation for Variety, Guillermo del Toro said that he would tell people who ask him about his film choices that he could not produce all of his screenplays. "People say, 'Why did you choose this movie?' I say, 'Listen, I’ve written 42 screenplays; I’ve made 13 movies.' It’s not like I said, 'Oh, no, I’ll do that one now.' It’s which project can I get produced," the filmmaker told Cooper.
For the uninitiated, Cooper and the Pan's Labyrinth filmmaker collaborated on 2021's psychological thriller Nightmare Alley. During the conversation, Cooper said that they had other projects in mind while working on the 2021 film. In response, The Shape of Water filmmaker revealed that making Nightmare Alley at the time provided him with the financial capability to produce Frankenstein and Cooper with the chance to back Maestro.
Interestingly, the filmmaker revealed that Frankenstein is a project that has been on his mind for a long time. "If I had done “Frankenstein” 20 years ago, it would have been about my father and me as a child. Now it’s too late for that. It needed to be about me as a father and my fear of repeating mistakes through generations with my children," he said.
