In an unusual but confident move (confidence in the production and its chances at the Oscars next year) Netflix will give Frankenstein an exclusive three-week theatrical release starting 17th October, before streaming begins on 7th November, and speaking with Variety, star Oscar Isaac (Victor Frankenstein) discussed how affecting the script for Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation was the first time he read it.
Isaac was always del Toro’s first choice for Victor, even before there was a screenplay. The two met over a long lunch as del Toro teased out details. “When I talked to Guillermo, he was like, ‘I’m making a feast,’” Isaac says. “And he really did.” A year later, del Toro had Isaac come to a hotel room, where he presented the actor with 30 pages from the script, and Isaac performed every part out loud. “I’m just reading all the voices,” Isaac recalls. By the time he got to the last page, “we were just crying,” Isaac says. “There’s just so much pain there.”
Isaac jumps in to stress audiences will have the option to see the film as del Toro intended. “It is gonna go to the theater for a while,” he says. “I think people will get to see it on the big screen as much as they can. It is such a marvel.” He thinks about it some more. “It’d be nice to have a communal experience,” Isaac says. “So yeah, seeing it in a theater would be ideal.”
