Entertainment
Guillermo del Toro Reveals Abandoned Plans for the Best Gothic Western We’ll Never See
With nine nominations in total, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is gearing up for a thrilling takeover at the Academy Award ceremonies in March. The director’s latest creature feature leaned on the immense talents of its leading trio of performers — Jacob Elordi, Oscar Isaac, and Mia Goth — to bring his version of Mary Shelley’s classic gothic novel to life. Since his feature-length debut with 1992’s Cronos, del Toro has brought his fresh and oftentimes freaky vision to all types of stories, from original ideas to characters and tales that have long been loved and adored. With one hit after the next, the Nightmare Alley and The Shape of Water helmer has been no stranger to the award season circuit, but there’s one movie that he recently admitted to having been developing that has tragically been lost to the past.
During a back-and-forth on X, in which a fan posted about their wish for del Toro to front an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’s classic, The Count of Monte Cristo, that would see Elordi, Isaac, and Goth star, the critically-acclaimed filmmaker gave a response that made us clutch our pearls. Making us wish we had a time machine and a boatload of cash to produce it, del Toro said, “I have the screenplay! Which we developed w Francis Coppola in and around 1997-1998, and its [sic] a Gothic Western!”
While there have been plenty of on-screen adaptations of The Count of Monte Cristo over the last several years, including the most recent one, which featured Sam Claflin in the titular role, we now officially feel robbed of not seeing del Toro and Coppola’s Western take. For a reference to what was happening during their careers at this time, the former was full-speed ahead on his sophomore feature, the sci-fi horror flick Mimic, while the latter was busy bringing another piece of literature — John Grisham’s The Rainmaker — to the big screen. Although both of these films are absolute classics and important pieces in both filmmakers’ catalogues, what we wouldn’t have given to see their version of The Count of Monte Cristo take form.
‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ in Cinema
For years upon years, The Count of Monte Cristo has been a favorite of directors to tell the tale of adventure, love, and vengeance first penned by Dumas in the mid 1800s. Standout on-screen productions include Rowland V. Lee‘s Robert Donat and Elissa Landi-led 1934 feature, the French-language Jacques Weber-starring 1979 miniseries, and Kevin Reynolds’ 2002 film, which starred Jim Caviezel, Henry Cavill, and Guy Pearce.
The newest version of The Count of Monte Cristo is now streaming via PBS Masterpiece.
- Release Date
-
2026 – 2024-00-00
- Network
-
Rai 1, France Télévisions Jeunesse
- Directors
-
Bille August
- Writers
-
Greg Latter