{"id":483068,"date":"2026-05-13T19:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/483068\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T19:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:18:15","slug":"guillermo-del-toro-on-pans-labyrinth-netflix-going-theatrical-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/483068\/","title":{"rendered":"Guillermo Del Toro On ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’; Netflix Going Theatrical, More"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tHollywood tentpoles may have fallen through the fingers of the Cannes<\/a> Film Festival, but if they\u2019ve done anything right this year, it\u2019s been in paying respect to two of the big screen greats, we\u2019re talking the 20th anniversary of Guillermo del Toro<\/a>\u2018s Pan\u2019s Labyrinth and the 4K restoration of Ken Russell\u2019s 1971 naughty, cult Catholic movie, The Devils.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the case of the former, Chris McGurk\u2019s Cineverse stepped in taking over the lapsed North American multi-media license on the 3x Oscar winning movie (previously distributed by Bob and Jeanne Berney\u2019s Picturehouse when it was under the Warner Bros umbrella). Pan\u2019s Labyrinth is getting an Oct. 9 theatrical release in partnership with Fathom tricked out in 4K, 3D and HDR by Barco. When it premiered 20 years ago at Cannes, Pan\u2019s Labyrinth was legendary with reportedly the longest standing ovation ever at 22 minutes. Last night in the pic\u2019s second go-round (this time at Cannes Classics), the Pan\u2019s standing ovation was around five minutes per Deadline\u2019s clocks \u2014 a length that most competition films are lucky to land.<\/p>\n

\n\tPan\u2019s Labyrinth\u00a0takes place in 1944, in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. Young Ofelia and her pregnant mother have been brought to live in the countryside, where her brutal stepfather Captain Vidal\u2019s job is to wipe out the remaining rebels camped in the local forest. Nearby, in a hidden labyrinth, Ofelia meets an ageless Faun, who tells her that she is really a princess from an enchanted world. He gives her three tasks which she must complete in order to reclaim her rightful place. As her mother\u2019s failing health threatens the life of her unborn child, Ofelia undertakes a quest to complete the Faun\u2019s tasks.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe pic was a game-changer in del Toro\u2019s career, showing his cinematic ability to change-up from genre titles to sophisticated period fare.<\/p>\n

\n\tBelow is our conversation from Cannes with del Toro.<\/p>\n

\n\tDo you own <\/strong>Pan\u2019s Labyrinth<\/strong>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tNow, I do. There was a license which lapsed. It ran, then I had some rights for The Orphanage that I exchanged with El Cinco. Alfonso (Cuar\u00f3n) generously gave me the rights on his side. Now, I can care for the movie for the rest of my life.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow pivotal was Pan\u2019s Labyrinth in your career? You were established doing Hollywood genre films, but this was an arthouse play.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIt was life or death. The movies before this one, their destinies were so half-hazard. Mimic almost destroyed me. Then Devil\u2019s Backbone almost resurrected me. Then, Blade 2 launched Hellboy, but I felt that I had to put all the chips on one number. I needed to make a statement about what I felt in the world and I felt like Ofelia. The world changed so much since 9\/11. This movie takes so much of your life. It takes three-to-five years of life. And I said, I\u2019m not going to veer from making this movie. A lot of superhero movies were being offered to me because of Hellboy and Blade II. I said, I\u2019m going to stick to this one. Every distributor said \u2018No\u2019 until Picturehouse. Only Bob Berney saw it. Bob said, \u2018I believe in this movie exactly as you want it.\u2019 Because everyone would say \u2018Do it in English. Don\u2019t kill the girl at the end. Take out the violence.\u2019 And I wanted to make it exactly as you see.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat is it about Bob Berney that sets him apart from other feature marketing and distribution executives?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tBob is unique. He believes in the filmmaker and he believes that the best way to deal with a piece of film is on its own terms. He doesn\u2019t want to superimpose marketing or superimpose what he thinks. There\u2019s that story that a sculptor looks at a block of marble until he sees a sculpture inside. That\u2019s Bob. He\u2019s as close to a marketing and distribution sculptor as I\u2019ve ever seen. <\/p>\n

\n\tWhere did a bulk of the financing come from?<\/strong>
Mexico, Spain and presales. Wildbunch was key in financing the movie. The lynchpin was an American distributor. If we didn\u2019t get that, we wouldn\u2019t get the movie made. We mostly participated with our salaries. Originally, we had money from the same producers who did Devil\u2019s Backbone. Some of them, [the] money went away before we did pre-production.<\/p>\n

\n\tTell me about Cineverse stepping in to re-release Pan\u2019s Labyrinth. <\/strong>
I seeked out Chris McGurk. I\u2019ve known Chris for a while. He\u2019s been a seasoned, reliable, solid guy through every company, through every position. We\u2019ve known each other for a long time where I admire his stance. The thing that him and Bob Berney have in common is that they\u2019re personally involved.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tL to R: Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPicturehouse, Everett Collection<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat was on your mind then post 9\/11 with the film and what still rings true today? Fascists haven\u2019t gone away in the world. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI remember having this conversation at the time when we were making it where people said, \u2018Fascists are not around.\u2019 I said, \u2018Give them time.\u2019 The latch of history is a flimsy latch. Unfortunately, they\u2019re always banging at the door. Our worst instincts as a society is manipulated from above \u2014 hating each other. If you distract the people below, they\u2019ll never look up. They say, \u2018Look around.\u2019 No, look up. If you want to find who is to blame, it\u2019s above, it\u2019s not to your side. It\u2019s an effective technique. The playbook is the same since Goebbels.<\/p>\n

\n\tYour inspiration for the film. Did you see something going on in Mexico at the time that reminded you of Francoist Spain?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWhen I was growing up, a lot of the people that worked in the movie business were exiles from the Civil War. There was a big influx of Republicans, Republican Actors, Republican Directors, so many fine character actors were from Spain. A film historian that became my editor and mentor in Guadalajara, his family had exiled during the Civil War. It was very enmeshed.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPicturehouse<\/p>\n

\n\tCould you still make Pan\u2019s Labyrinth today?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIn terms of craftsmanship, sure. In terms of financing, you always find a way. Where there\u2019s a will, there\u2019s a structure that will accommodate it. Other than Mimic, which was the worst experience I ever had as a filmmaker (with Bob Weinstein), this is the second worst experience. It was incredibly difficult to finance, incredibly difficult to shoot.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow long did it take you to get the production off the ground?<\/strong>
It happened right after Hellboy. It wasn\u2019t that many years. It was very intense. I pitched to Alfonso in London over dinner. It was an original. We had a lot of antagonism in making it. The idea of combining history and horror, I did it in Devil\u2019s Backbone. To combine it to this degree, a lot of people were skeptical about it.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the shots that stands with me is the broken down locomotive \u2014 that\u2019s real? That was a quick shot, yet epic filmmaking, and I was thinking how expensive was it to construct that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tAll of my life, I have been very conscious of gestures. The audience needs a gesture to realize this is a big movie when it isn\u2019t. This movie and Shape of Water are both $19.5M. But they are full of big gestures in what are very intimate movies. In Shape of Water, I knew I had to open with an underwater apartment, which is a big gesture. Then go to a giant government lab. In Pan\u2019s Labyrinth, other than the fantasy world, I knew I wanted big gestures. One battle scene. The big locomotive. I wanted to make sure we built every single set in the movie. When I meet with my line producer I say, \u2018meatballs and gravy\u2019. You can\u2019t give the audience gravy, you gotta give them a meatball or two.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat do you think of Netflix finally embracing theatrical with Greta Gerwig\u2019s Narnia?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI think it\u2019s great. I think it\u2019s fantastic. It\u2019s incredibly beneficial for everyone. <\/p>\n

\n\tIs Fury next for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tNo, it\u2019s the stop-motion animation (The Buried Giant)<\/a>. It will be a long gestation. We need to build the whole world. It\u2019s next and it\u2019s with Netflix.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat\u2019s your take on Hollywood and theatrical, and this whole pending merger (Warner Bros. and Paramount) taking place?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThere are so many things that are mutating. You have Silicon Valley merging with Hollywood. Corporations that don\u2019t traditionally come from moviemaking. I think there are three or four battlefronts: the creative, the legacy media, the theatrical and there\u2019s not one front. Each filmmaker and each entity has to choose where the trench has to be dug for that particular person or that particular part of the industry. I see movement in all of them. I see movement and concern for dialogue in all of them. I\u2019m on the DGA, PGA, I\u2019m at the Academy. You see dialogues starting to happen. Whether you\u2019re encroached by AI or encroached by ensuring theatrical or shooting on film, or real sets. I talk to filmmakers every week, and each of us is on an interesting journey. <\/p>\n

\n\tIs AI simply the future of VFX? Or is the media being melodramatic about this? Do we need to watch out?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI think the more you leave your decisions to something and not someone, the worse you are for it. I don\u2019t think art is generated. Art is created. Nevertheless, the tools advance. But they have to be presented as that, as tools. <\/p>\n

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