10 Canceled Guillermo del Toro Projects Netflix Should Revive After ‘Frankenstein’

Netflix’s Frankenstein, directed by Guillermo del Toro, received a lot of critical acclaim and resonated with fans as well. Del Toro is famed for his work with dark fantasy, urban settings, and monsters, something he has been fascinated by for almost the entirety of his career. Del Toro has stated two things that will inform this list. First, there is the claim that he would like to focus on animation exclusively going forward. He did say that he might have some live-action films he wants to fiddle around with, but his focus is going to be on animation.

It is also known that Guillermo del Toro is currently working on a stop-motion adaptation of The Buried Giant, along with Fury, a project that he has described as “My Dinner With Andre” with a side of killing people. The latter project is set to star Oscar Isaac (via Deadline). This list is going to look at the large, unproduced filmography that del Toro has, or could have had, and examine projects that might be worth revisiting after his current titles, especially in animated form.

1 The Sandkings

Sandkings was a project Guillermo del Toro was developing as an adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s novelette of the same name. It was one of the earlier projects del Toro abandoned, as active development of the idea was being explored as early as 1995. However, the story was ultimately adapted as the first episode of the anthology series The Outer Limits, which led to del Toro’s version being dropped.

Thirty years later, with the media landscape having changed so dramatically thanks to the success of Martin’s other work, an animated Sandkings film would be right up del Toro’s alley.

2 Domu: A Child’s Dream

What better source material for an animated film than manga? Created by Katsuhiro Otomo, the brilliant mind behind Akira, Domu attracted Guillermo del Toro in 1999, when he was considering writing and directing the adaptation. The main issue, as del Toro himself stated, came down to international rights. By 2006, however, Otomo made it clear that he had handed the rights over to del Toro, even if legal complications still stood in the way.

Given del Toro’s focus on animation and Domu’s subject matter, the project seems ripe for him to tackle. Centered on a mystery, Domu is a story similar to Akira, but far less apocalyptic.

3 At The Mountains of Madness

H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness is a film Guillermo del Toro has been trying to make for quite some time. The project’s development was first made public in 2003. A lot of things were in place for the project, but Universal was simply not going to throw $150 million dollars at an R-rated film (The New Yorker). However, things have changed since then. R-rated films such as Deadpool & Wolverine and Joker have shown studios that the right creative talent can generate strong revenue regardless of rating.

Further, the appetite for adult animation in the West has evolved beyond sitcoms like The Simpsons and Family Guy, with animated shows finding great success on streaming platforms.

4 Saturn and the End of Days

Not much is known about Saturn and the End of Days, given that it was an original concept del Toro was developing, as opposed to the other entries on this list. All that is known is that the film was going to follow a child named Saturn as he traveled back and forth between home and a supermarket, witnessing the end of the world.

The premise alone seems tailor-made for the animated medium. It would also allow the film’s horror elements to shine through, possibly making it a Coraline-type film for a whole new generation.

5 Hellboy III

In 2019, Ron Perlman said he was ready to return to finish the trilogy that he and Guillermo del Toro started. By the time Hellboy II: The Golden Army was released, Perlman was already having trouble playing Hellboy, with the makeup alone taking several hours to apply and remove. Two reboots later, Hellboy has not managed to make the kind of splash that del Toro’s original duology did. However, Perlman is now older and would likely no longer be able to portray the character physically.

Animation seems like the perfect choice to bring back the franchise. Perlman and the rest of the cast, now much older, would still be able to voice the characters, and del Toro’s plans for a sequel would fit perfectly in that format.

6 Slaughterhouse-Five

The last update on Guillermo del Toro’s Slaughterhouse-Five project came in 2013. At the time, Charlie Kaufman was taking a crack at the film’s script. The project was intended to be “a more literal interpretation” of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel of the same name.

An animated version of the film would be a grand endeavor, given the medium’s fluidity compared to live-action adaptation. While the 1972 version managed to do many things right, Guillermo del Toro could bring a new dimension to the story through a sincere, modern animated production.

7 Journey to the West

This project would have been an adaptation of the 16th-century Chinese allegorical novel Journey to the West, the same source material behind cultural icons like Dragon Ball and Black Myth: Wukong. Neil Gaiman was tapped to write the story, with del Toro interested in taking the director’s chair. However, no updates on the project have surfaced since.

While it is unlikely that Gaiman will remain involved, del Toro might still be able to get an animated version of the story off the ground. Given the myriad monsters in the tale, this could be the ideal project for him to revisit.

8 Dark Universe

Justice League Dark saw Batman team up with some of DC’s famous occult characters || Credit: DC Entertainment

Guillermo del Toro’s project was envisioned as a live-action adaptation focusing on characters such as John Constantine, Swamp Thing, the Spectre, and Deadman. It was expected to be part of the DCEU.

Under James Gunn, the DCU has taken a novel approach to many of its characters. Gunn has already explored similar territory with Creature Commandos. A Justice League film may not be in the cards for a while, much less something like Justice League Dark. However, an animated version of the project would make a great deal of sense, and del Toro, especially in today’s cinematic landscape and given his background with Hellboy, remains an excellent choice to tackle it.

9 Cabinet of Curiosities Season 2

Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities was a horror anthology series he created for Netflix, and it felt like the love child of Black Mirror and Pan’s Labyrinth. The show’s central conceit was giving Oscar-winning talent the opportunity to try their hand at gothic horror narratives.

Revisiting the anthology through animation would not only give Netflix another bold series to capitalize on during the long stretches between seasons of Love, Death & Robots, but it would also scratch a very specific itch for Guillermo del Toro’s audience.

10 Hellboy: Silverlance

Silverlance was a spin-off set in the world of Hellboy that never saw the light of day. It was shelved specifically because a third Hellboy movie was greenlit, though that film was never made either. However, there is no reason one project should suffer because the other exists, or does not.

As a story exploring Prince Nuada, Silverlance would lend itself well to a gritty animated treatment. Telling it in the same style as the fae folk story in the second film might also be an appealing option, should del Toro choose to pursue it.

Year Guillermo del Toro Was First Attached	Project	Original Work	Reason for stalling/exit
1995	The Sandkings	Sandkings by George R.R. Martin	Adapted as the first episode of The Outer Rims anthology series
1999	Domu: A Child’s Dream	Domu by Katsuhiro Otomo	Unable to settle international rights
2003	At The Mountains of Madness	At The Mountains of Madness by Howard Phillips Lovecraft	R Rating Budget requirements
2008	Saturn and the End of Days	–	Unknwon, shelved
2008	Hellboy III	Hellboy by Mike Mignola	Scrapped in lieu of 2019’s Hellboy
2008	Slaughterhouse-Five	Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut	Pivoting to Pacific Rim
2011	Journey to the West	Journey to the West by Wu Cheng	Unknown, shelved
2013	Dark Universe	Justice League Dark	DCEU’s focus on Justice League Del Toro developing Pacific Rim 2
2022	Cabinet of Curiosities Season 2	–	Renewal pending from Netflix
2015	Hellboy: Silverlance	Hellboy by Mike Mignola	Development of Hellboy III

Which of these projects would you like to see revived?