With the triumph of Pinocchio still fresh in his mind, director Guillermo del Toro has already settled on his next stop-motion film. Pinocchio, directed by Guillermo del Toro, premiered earlier this year to critical acclaim and box office success; the film has now earned a 97 percent rating from critics and a 91 percent rating from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. In a dark reimagining of the classic Italian children’s fable, this film has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film and won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Motion Picture.
Writer-director Guillermo del Toro recently told The Telegraph (via Collider) that he plans to do another animated feature film. He intends to turn Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2015 novel The Buried Giant into a feature film. There currently needs to be a set release date for del Toro’s The Buried Giant, and given that he is busy with a live-action picture that may be a monster movie, it may be some time before it goes into production. Nonetheless, del Toro claims that he and Dennis Kelly, who co-wrote Matilda the Musical and is now penning The Buried Giant, will begin the design process in two weeks.
In two months, Dennis Kelly and I will begin the design process for our upcoming stop-motion picture, an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant. Now I’m working on a live-action feature film. In the interim, though, we are creating a lookbook, and if all goes well, production will begin in around two years.
GDT’s The Buried Giant will be another successful stop-motion film.
This year, Guillermo del Toro has released two films: the dark and moving “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” and the anthology horror series “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities,” both available on Netflix. But it doesn’t appear that his skill is being watered down by the volume. With the release of Pinocchio, it has become evident that director Guillermo del Toro has a knack for the craft of stop-motion animation. In addition to Turning Red, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, The Sea Beast, and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio was nominated for an Academy Award. Even though there are many beautiful animated films in the running this year (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is another touching stop-motion film), del Toro’s wonderfully created stop-motion feature is the frontrunner to win the Academy Award.
There is a lot of buzz surrounding The Buried Giant, and with the cast and the source material already linked, del Toro may have another smash on his hands for his eagerly awaiting audience. In the 2015 fantasy novel The Buried Giant, protagonists Axl and Beatrice, a retired British couple, navigate a post-Arthurian England where no one can retain long-term memories. The couple has a hazy recollection that they may have had a kid many years ago, so they travel to a nearby village searching for him. This touching tale seems tailor-made for the personal touch of stop-motion animation. It has been said that The Buried Giant is a profound exploration of memory and remorse and that it became an instant classic upon its debut.
Guillermo del Toro’s most recent film, Pinocchio, is an excellent illustration of how he approaches films with profound horrors and devastating moments while yet maintaining a sense of whimsy and seriousness. Having Matilda the Musical scribe Kelly on board to co-write del Toro’s The Buried Giant is a huge relief, as Kelly has already adapted classic literature for the big screen. The Buried Giant, del Toro’s stop-motion film, may be around for a while, but it’s definitely one of his projects to keep an eye on after his previous successes in the medium.
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